Ireland is a world leader in the fight against smoking – Doherty

Fine Gael Meath East TD, Regina Doherty has welcomed the news that France is to introduce standardised packaging for cigarettes, saying that Ireland is a world leader in the fight against smoking.

“The news that France is to introduce standardised packaging for cigarettes is remarkable and highlights Ireland’s position as one of the world leaders in the fight against smoking.

“We were the first European country to commit to standardised packaging for cigarettes in 2013 and the second country in the world to do so. The fact that France, a country considered to be tobacco friendly is now following in our lead, just proves how successful the measure is considered to be.

“I hope that many more European countries follow the Irish lead on this. It is good to see that the UK has also produced draft regulations on this matter.  Plain packaging was introduced in Australia in 2012 and the measure has been shown to have had an impact on the marketing power of tobacco companies and help reduce the numbers of young people taking up smoking.

“We must do whatever it takes to curb the numbers of young people smoking and plain packaging is a   good first step. It is great to see other countries following the Irish example on this.”