Flood of submissions on Ireland’s proposed standardized packs bill

An attempt is being made to bury Ireland’s Department of Health in paper so as to frustrate efforts to introduce standardized packs for cigarettes sold in the country, according to a story in The Irish Examiner.

The department’s chief medical officer, Dr. Tony Holohan, told the committee on health and children that the department had received 6,000 submissions in recent months. “This is part of the tactical game to drown us in paper,” said Holohan, who claimed the submissions had originated from a number of sources.

Health Minister James Reilly introduced a standardized packaging bill at the committee meeting.

Holohan said some of the submissions made reference to the bill on standardized packaging, as well as the EU’s new tobacco products directive.

Meanwhile, Reilly has said that standardized packaging will help police tackle the illegal trade in cigarettes.

He said the introduction of standardized packaging would not help the illegal tobacco trade, as some had forecast.