The special tax increase on alcohol and tobacco comes into force on Sunday, with the price of cigarettes expected to rise on average by €0.15 per packet. Rolling tobacco is likely to rise by even more.
The taxes will raise an estimated €422 million for the remainder of this year and around €700 million next year.
One of the main arguments for raising the taxes on alcohol is that the tax is currently one of the lowest in Europe and hasn’t been increased since 2005. Not much of a cogent argument.