The Government will consider giving free nicotine patches and gum to people trying to quit smoking, Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin has said.
Mr Howlin and Finance Minister Michael Noonan strongly defended the Budget and utterly dismissed suggestions it was a "political gimmick" to buy votes in a general election which is 18 months away at most.
"Obviously, we think politically but we are not into tricks or stunts. We are trying to make our tax system 'work-friendly' and we are trying to make the recovery lasting and spread the recovery across the country," Mr Noonan said on RTE's 'Today With Sean O'Rourke', during which both ministers answered listeners' Budget questions for an hour.
The two ministers strongly defended the decision to put 40 cent on the pack of 20 cigarettes and 20 cent on a packet of roll-your-own tobacco.
They both insisted it was done for health reasons - as smoking-related illness causes more than 5,000 deaths every year - and not to raise extra tax revenue.
A caller named David described himself as "a reformed smoker of 18 years' duration", but who also attacked the new tobacco tax as a boost for smugglers.
Source: John Downing, Irish Independent, 16/10/14
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