The levy on fizzy drinks will arrive next April.
On one hand, and with Ireland’s childhood obesity rate sprillaling, the arrival of the so-called sugar tax will force us to take a cold, hard look at our diets – and that’s something to applaud.
On the other hand, however, not only are our weekly shopping bills going to get more expensive, but critics say that this is another example of overeager Nanny State tactics. Tactics that in other countries, have proved largely ineffective.
We already knew that the levy was in the pipeline – and on Tuesday, Finance Minister Paschal Donohue confirmed said fact.
Here’s what he stated: Tax of 30c per litre on drinks with over 8g of sugar per 100mls will be introduced, along with a reduced rate of 20c per litre on drinks with between 5g and 8g of sugar per 100mls.
The rates are broadly consistent with what’s also been introduced into the UK also next year: in April, Chancellor Phillip Hammond stated of the introduction of a levy on sugary drinks is a “good thing for our children”.
Much like the thinking in Leinster House, the move is part of an attempt to combat obesity in the UK.
In his budget statement, Mr Hammond said the money raised will go directly to the Department For Education to help fund school sports – a concept which has been touted on home-soil too.
After the UK put concrete plans in place, HerFamily got in touch with the Department of Health for an update.
In response, a spokesperson referred us to their working paper from October 2016: it lays out proposals on how to tackle the issues of childhood and adult obesity by reducing the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks.
They also outlined that the matter is now on the desk at the Department of Finance, which completed its public consultation in January.
So now the question is, will it even work?
According to the Guardian, Denmark introduced a tax on foods high in saturated fat in 2011. Just a year later, however, it abolished it – furthermore dropping plans for a sugar tax. Authorities there stated that the move had only encouraged consumers to cross the border into Germany and, more importantly, it had failed to change eating habits.
Still, in Mexico (a nation famous for its love of Coca-Cola), the sugar tax approach has certainly been more successful: there was a 5.5 percent drop in consumption in the first year after introduction (2014), following by an even more impressive 9.7 percent decline in year two.
Health authorities are fully on board: they have been calling for a tax on all sugary drinks for some time, with the Royal College Of Physicians warning that waiting even another year would be a huge mistake on Ireland’s part.
With one year still to go until our sugar tax, it’s probable that in the future more and more unhealthy foods and drinks will be slapped with similar penalties.
How effective any of it will be remains to be seen…
