Simon Clark - Taking Liberties

James Reilly, Minister for Health in Ireland, will today present his proposed Bill for plain packaging to the Irish parliament's Health Committee.

As luck would have it, Forest Eireann recently commissioned a survey from established Dublin pollsters Red C and the results have been published in Ireland this morning.

They make for interesting reading. Here are the key findings:

Nine out of ten think plain packs are not the best way to stop young people smoking

More than half the population thinks health education in schools would be most effective in reducing smoking rates.

Of four policy options considered in the poll, mandatory health education in schools (51 per cent), tackling the illicit trade (23 per cent) and banning adults from buying cigarettes for children (14 per cent) are all considered more likely to work than plain packaging (9 per cent).

Given a list of four issues the Minister for Health should prioritise in 2014, plain packaging ranked last on just 4 per cent.

45 per cent want the Minister to prioritise the health budget overspend, 32 per cent childhood obesity, and 18 per cent under-age drinking

The poll consisted of a random sample of 1,002 adults who were interviewed on the phone by Red C between 18-20 November.

It will be interesting to see whether the survey gets any media coverage.

Full press release here.

Update: Well, fancy that. Tobacco control has a poll out today too.

The Irish Times has a report here - Two polls offer two different perspectives on plain packaging Bill.

The Journal covers both polls too but the headline favours the pro plain pack survey:

Over two-thirds in poll support plain cigarette packaging

Update: The Examiner has a report of both polls too. Again, the headline highlights the pro plain pack angle:

Backing for Reilly's tobacco plain package bill

Funny, that.