The vast majority of under-age smokers are not being asked for ID when they buy cigarettes, according to research published yesterday.
The survey conducted by MRBI for the Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) found that 94 per cent of under-age smokers were not asked for ID the last time they bought cigarettes.
The finding was described as very disappointing by the chairman of the board of the OTC, Dr Michael Boland.
"It shows that the existing arrangements for the sale of tobacco are not working in terms of ensuring that cigarettes are not sold to people under the age of 18, which is the law. The MRBI data would suggest the law is being flouted all over the place," he said.
He said the OTC planned to compile a register of all shops selling tobacco, and those which then flouted the law would be struck off the register and could no longer sell tobacco.
The MRBI data were presented at a conference in Dublin, organised by the OTC, on the economics of tobacco control and Irish fiscal policy. The research also found that cigarettes, as currently priced, come well within the financial means of many young people, with weekly spending averaging €21 for eight- to 11-year-olds, €44 for 12- to 15-year-olds, and €108 for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Prof Frank Chaloupka, an economics expert from the University of Illinois, told delegates that significantly increasing the price of tobacco products through tax rises was the single most effective measure available to governments to reduce consumption.
He said a 10 per cent increase in tobacco prices in high-income countries would reduce consumption by 4 per cent. "Indeed, the largest reductions occur in groups that are more difficult to reach with other tobacco control measures, such as youth and young adults, ethnic minorities, as well as less-educated and lower-income populations," he said.
"Many governments have avoided taking such action because of concerns that their interventions might have harmful economic consequences. This is not so. The economic benefits which flow from reducing tobacco consumption outweigh any economic losses that arise in the tobacco sector," he added.
In their Programme for Government, Fianna Fáil and the PDs have given a commitment to work with the social partners to remove tobacco from the consumer price index. This would mean that raising the price of cigarettes in the budget would not affect the rate of inflation.
The Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Mr Tim O'Malley, said the Government was seeking to significantly increase the price of cigarettes.
The revenue raised would be used in the treatment and prevention of cancer, heart disease and other tobacco-related disease.
Prof Chaloupka's comments were backed up by MRBI's findings. Almost half those surveyed said they would be unlikely to continue smoking if the price of tobacco doubled.
"Our research also shows that raising the minimum pack-size to a pack of 40 or 60 cigarettes would encourage smokers, particularly young people, to quit," MRBI's director, Mr Damian Loscher, said.
He said the research also indicated that 63 per cent of people supported a large increase in the tax on cigarettes. He said 72 per cent of non-smokers said they favoured doubling the price of cigarettes overnight to discourage young people from smoking, while 46 per cent of smokers favoured such a move.
The research was conducted by interviewing 1,500 people across the State during August. Almost half the sample were under 17.