In the eyes of the public health community, Ireland is the poster boy for tobacco control.
It has the highest cigarette prices in the EU, and some of the strictest prohibitions. Ireland was the first country in the world to introduce a workplace smoking ban. It has banned the sale of 10 packs of cigarettes, introduced a display ban and vending restrictions, and graphic health warnings on packs.
The European tobacco control scale has consistently ranked Ireland second-best in Europe. This scale awards points for criteria including high tobacco prices, extensiveness of smoking bans and advertising bans, and the size of health warning labels. Only the UK scores higher than Ireland, because it introduced graphic health warnings earlier and spends more annually on tobacco control. Unfortunately, the tobacco control scale is more concerned with prohibitionist policies than it is with outcomes. Ireland's high ranking belies the fact that there has been no significant reduction in smoker numbers in recent years.
According to Eurobarometer, the smoking rate in Ireland has remained constant at 29pc – the third highest rate in Europe – over the past eight years.
Ireland also has the highest female smoking population in the OECD – 27pc of Irish women smoke, far above the average of 16.7pc.
Even worse, research by the OECD has shown that over the past 20 years the number of smokers in Ireland has fallen by just 3pc. The OECD average for smoking cessation over the same period is 30pc, meaning that Ireland has performed 10 times worse than average. Of the 26 countries studied by the OECD, only Russia performed worse.
Source: Christopher Snowden, Irish Independent, 23/10/13
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