According to the Irish Times yesterday:
Tobacco giant issues legal threat over plain packaging (Irish Times).
Cue faux outrage from former health minister (now children's minister) James Reilly who immediately seized the spotlight, using the letter to portray both himself and the Irish parliament as David versus Goliath:
The Oireachtas "will not be intimidated by external forces" in legislating to control tobacco use which is responsible for 5,200 deaths each year, Minister for Children James Reilly has said.
See Legal threat will not halt tobacco packaging plan, says Reilly (Irish Times) and Big Tobacco is threatening James Reilly but plain packs ‘will be in shops by May 2017’ (The Journal.ie).
I'll leave you to judge who leaked the letter but it was published just hours before the Irish Parliament health sub-committee was due to debate plain packaging.
Had it not been leaked opponents of plain packaging – including Forest – might have enjoyed greater publicity for our own message:
The Dáil health subcommittee has been urged to consider "very carefully" the risks of introducing standardised packaging of tobacco.
Speaking ahead of a debate on measures to introduce plain packaging, John Mallon, spokesman for the smokers' group Forest Eireann, said:
"James Reilly desperately wants Ireland to be the first country in Europe to introduce plain packaging but he's taking a huge and unnecessary risk with taxpayers' money.
"Standardised packaging could not only fuel illicit trade by playing into the hands of counterfeiters and criminal gangs, it could also cost the taxpayer billions of euros in compensation to the tobacco companies.
"We urge the health subcommittee to consider these risks very carefully."
Mallon said the government should wait and assess the impact of the larger health warnings that will be introduced next year as part of the EU's revised Tobacco Products Directive.
See Plain packaging a "huge and unnecessary risk" (Forest Eireann).
Anyway we weren't totally ignored. John appeared on the TV3 and UTV news programmes and today's Irish Sun features a head-to-head 'debate' between John and the man he calls "Stubbs Reilly".
Here's what John had to say:
James Reilly desperately wants Ireland tone the first country in Europe to introduce plain packaging but he's taking a huge and unnecessary risk with taxpayer's money.
Standardised packaging could not only fuel the illicit trade by playing into the hands of counterfeiters, it could also cost the taxpayer billions of euros in compensation for the tobacco companies.
The Government can't deny intellectual property rights. If Steve Jobs had been told that he could sell his Apple products but couldn't have the logo on them he'd have taken action so it is understandable that tobacco companies are doing the same.
Putting cigarettes in standardized packs is yet another attempt to de-normalise a legal product, stigmatizing those who consume it.
The measures are based on the fallacy that children find so-called glitzy packaging appealing. But children aren't allowed to smoke, and if you go into a shop, cigarettes are out of view, so removing the brand is not going to make a bit of difference.
Meanwhile expect more 'David versus Goliath' nonsense as the tobacco companies understandably try to protect their intellectual property.
Update: Our old friend John Crown has called for a 99 per cent tax on the profits of tobacco companies - if they pursue their threats of legal action against the State.
See: Senator calls for 99% tax on tobacco profits amid legal threat (Irish Examiner).
He really is a plonker.
Update: The Irish Times has an online readers' poll on plain packaging. Please vote. Click here.