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THE FOOD AND Drink Industry of Ireland (FDII) has come out against a proposed tax on certain food and drink products – the so-called ‘sugar tax’ – with dentists also expressing some scepticism about the idea.
The FDII, an IBEC representative group for the food and drink industry, was responding to speculation that a sugar tax could be introduced in the forthcoming budget.
The Irish Independent reported yesterday that a 10 per cent excise duty on certain food and drink products with high sugar content could be introduced in next month’s Budget in order to tackle obesity and raise revenue.
The FDII said that such a measure would have no health benefits and would hit already hard-pressed consumers.
Director Paul Kelly said: “An additional tax on sugar or soft drinks would leave Irish consumers out of pocket, paying one of the highest tax rates in Europe.
“The impact would be highly regressive, with a disproportionate impact on low-income families that spend a higher proportion of income on food.
Kelly pointed to the Danish government’s recent decision to scrap its ‘fat tax’, a measure which levied a charge on foods high in saturated fat but which was scrapped after just a year with consumers increasingly travelling to Sweden and Germany where prices were lower.
Dentists have also expressed some scepticism as to the benefits of any potential tax.
While the Irish Dental Association (IDA) said that some of the money raised from the tax should go towards an oral healthcare programme it expressed doubts about its benefits.
The IDA said that it was “logical that a proportion of any monies raised should be allocated to dental care” but dentist and food scientist Dr Michael Crowe said that he was not convinced of the overall merits of the idea based on the national consumption data.
He said this did not show a correlation between increased consumption of soft drinks and obesity.
“From a dental perspective it is clear that a reduction in the frequency and volume of intake of any sugary drink or food may help in reducing the risk of dental caries,” he said.
“As sugar sweetened beverages are poor in nutrients, recommendations to limit their intake would generally appear to be important for the promotion of good nutrition. What is clear is that we need to reduce our consumption of all sugary drinks.
“So reducing consumption is not the issue, finding the best way to achieve that is.”
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Great research and great article! It always amazes me that Ireland’s revolution was started by very left wing elements, but within ten years had been hijacked by right-wing, monied conservatives. The church, I suspect, had much to do with that.
The Irish were paying back loans advanced by Great Britain to pay for Irish land at this time , yes we had to pay for our own Irish land …by comparison today’s austerity was caused by over the top borrowing
At this stage too the Proclamation had been cast aside as the opportunistic politicians seized the day , implemented vast pensions for themselves as the peasants starved and sometimes double and treble pensions for ministries which they exchanged frequently . Today’s FF /FG and Labour are their descendants in every way
Brian that’s a great comment. So many revolutions down the years have been hijacked, for the worse.
Hi Brian,
I don’t think it is accurate to say that Ireland’s revolution (if it was that, is replacing one set of elites with another really a revolution?) was started by left-wing elements and was hijacked by right-wingers years later. There were right and left wing elements from the beginning, I would suggest there were more right-wing elements than left at the beginning.
One only needs to look at one of those involved, Kevin O’Higgins who once said famously that he was part of a generation of ‘the most conservative-minded revolutionaries that ever put through a successful revolution’.
Even the left elements such as Connolly were very religiously-minded. Connolly wrote about how socialism and Catholicism were not mutually exclusive, and it was possible to be both. So what is to say that if the left-wing socialist element shined through, that it wouldn’t have stepped aside to a certain degree for the Catholic Church to take over?
The left-wing element is overplayed, partly I believe to do with the way Connolly was killed. He was an intellectual among poets and romantics. In fact they were such a disparate group in 1916, that if they had succeeded that ideological splits would have been inevitable. I have heard arguments that one faction would have had no problem overthrowing the other if it came to that. I believe that.
I think that the Catholic Church was so embedded in Irish society right back to Cardinal Cullen’s ‘Devotional Revolution’ in the aftermath of the Famine that no matter what element (left or right) had won control, they would have had to had some sort of coalition with the Catholic Church and it’s elite-minded ideology. I am not for one minute suggesting that was right and proper, it is just how Irish society was.
There’s a very interesting and authorities documentary on YouTube about the rise of Soviets in all Ireland in the days between the Rising and the height of the War of Independence. It shows how the social agenda was the dominant one across the country and soviets were taking over the means of production all over the island. It shows how they were run by ordinary women and men, Catholic, Protestant and dissenter. It also shows how they were betrayed by right wing nationalists and the trades union leadership and brutally suppressed. The nation agenda then became the dominant one resulting in the state we have today in Ireland.
Interesting how the same players are in power today, a century later, and still playing out the same desperate agenda.
This is why I’ll never vote for a political party again. No matter how many votes a party wins at an election, the majority always loses. Political parties owe allegiance to their own ideology and financial backers. In our adversarial political system, winning at all costs is essential and honesty, truth, fairness, decency and service take a very distant back seat.
I still believe in our system. We have 2 legislative houses, an independent legal system, a functioning civil service, a free responsible press and a written constitution.
Imagine what this wee state of ours would be like if there were no political parties and all TDs were independent and voted in accordance with their consciences and the will of the electorate and not the oligarchs who now rule, and ruin, Ireland.
Same old story then: a government obsessed with international standing decides on policies which have nothing to do with looking after its citizens.
Just goes to show that little(if anything) has changed!
‘Douglas added his opinion that “the present propaganda in the United States, alleging that there is a famine, will do great harm to our credit in every way unless it is countered”.’
That government may have been obsessed with international standing but for a pretty good reason – it needed credit to build up a country destroyed and divided after the Civil War and War of Independence.
And that’s a good reason to let citizens starve?
Reminds me of what is happening today… there would be people straving today in Ireland only for penny dinners and soup kitchens around the country and the kind generosity of the ordinary people of our country….
Sounds like nothing new then. Another Government cover up. Why am I not surprised
Seems that the business of Government in Ireland started life as an exercise in deceit, a system of rewarding those with land and position while punishing the poor and all the time pretending to care about all the people. Seems Labour then were the same as Labour now, subservient to the FG masters. We know to our cost that the deceitful practises of the major parties continue to this day but they haven’t much time left now.
@gerry as I understand it labour were in opposition during that period.
You are correct Bruce but let’s not have the facts get in the way of a good slander!
” Hogan was not the only one to ignore the suffering and starvation of the population. No one in the Dáil challenged the minister’s assertions – not even the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Thomas Johnson”
If Bruce and John R had actually read the article they would have noticed that. So it’s far from being a slander in this case.
Well you stated “subservient to FG masters”.
All I was pointing out was labour weren’t in govt so couldn’t be subservient.
From PJ hogan 100 years ago to Phil hogan now. Nothing has changed with regards to the calibre of politicians in this country
Was thinking the very same Niall.He came across with the same arrogance as present day Hogan.They bring in a blanket tax during a fuel shortage too.Shameful.
What would be next down the line?.A shoe tax.No way,would they be that stupid???
Same attitude as with them today.Do as your told and keep your mouth shut folks.
Nothing to see here,move along……..
Great article Fin. This was only one many cover ups unfortunately. Another been the economic war which ruined agriculture in Ireland. Calves were sold for their skin back them as exporting was prohibited. Well covered up by Dev obsessed historians like Diarmuid Ferriter.
And, as the past week has shown, plenty of modern day cover ups as well. This time using kangaroo courts.
Ferriter has written in the past about the effects of the economic war. Definitely no cover up there. He actually wrote a piece for gov.ie which talks about the effects. I’m not sure where you are getting that particular argument from.
interesting article. I know a bit on Irish history – but never knew about this.
Ireland was a newly independent nation. Its seems as if our leaders were very conscious of our image abroad. They wanted us to be seen as a successful prosperous nation, that could ‘stand on its own two feet’.
To admit to this famine would be to admit to failure. That’s possibly the reason for the cover up.
More research needs to be done on this important story.
Well done to the historians for their work, so far, on this.
And we had people recently trying to eulogize that bowsie WT cosgrave.
The real shame of the civil war was that Ireland lost so many of the progressive left wing figures who were anti treaty and we wound up with dyed in the wool tories running the country
Plus ca change.
Makes today’s austerity look like a walk in the park by comparison
If it were not for Facebook and YouTube the same politicians would be today ramming water taxes down the throats of the poor.!
Thanks for posting this article – was something I never knew about – puts the recent crisis into perspective
Great article. Well done on the research and the balanced way in which you reported the history.
At last a good article on Journal.ie, I was beginning to lose faith. Let’s hope this continues. A great read.
And remember it was the Garth Brooks debacle that was the national shame!!
The more things change the more they stay the same….
Once again historic scandals and inconvenient truths uncovered, I do enjoy the current hypocritical rant against SF,- the old Irish solution to an Irish problem of denial and deflection of any unpleasant problem that raises its ugly head. Its part of the Irish political and social psyche, if SF had handled the current situation in any other way they would not be Irish.
So your point Charles is that SF are like every one else? Good to know. That must make those who elect our politicians absolute hypocrites.
Please remember those that vote to elect the banks, lest we forget those that actually claim to run this nation!!
Bank of Ireland ‘own’ my property? Yet they have never canvassed my door, who is the puppets here?!
@sean what?
Thankful i live an an ireland full of taco chips and subway!
Fantastic article, well done.
The government was found wanting badly on this occasion but I believe we owe a debt of gratitude to WT Cosgrave who helped save this country from anarchy. It was touch and go at the start, but his decision to hand power over peacefully to Dev was a selfless act. Credit due too to FF for laying down their weapons.
A fascinating period of Irish history.
It was a selfless act to hand over power following an election which CNaG lost?
If you look at what was happening elsewhere what happened here was strikingly peaceful and progressive decolonisation.
Millions died in the 1840s famine, hundreds of emigrated after the economic collapse of the 1880s. How many died in the famine of the 1920s.
An Taoiseach Indah Kenny – I won’t have Ireland branded with the word defaulter……
And some people believe that country should have declared war against Nazi Germany 14 years later.
GrateArticle
I wonder how many TD’s in the present Dail are directly descended from those sitting around the table in 1925.
A government party later to become Fine Gael cut the old age pension by 10% back then a decision that was to haunt them for years to come, fast forward to today and Aer Lingus Aer Rianta and SRT pensioners are about to have their pensions slashed by 40% and a Fine Gael/Labour government have said they will sign in the necessary legalisation to facilitate this
Well let the existing staff pony to cover the loss
Would we not have prospered if we stayed part of the U.k?
It seems that we can’t really look after ourselves properly.
I live on Gorumna Island third pic down
Thank you for this very informative article. Is it any wonder then Labour have no conscience about the hardship ordinary people are suffering in this recession? May people are “starving” and literally too. They have to sacrifice food for bills. Its sad to read how so many poor had to suffer and die. How was this government so cruel and blind to their plight. Seriously the English would have been more charitable. Very good article.
PJ Hogan. 100Years,Reincarnated 2013PhilHogan.Funny old world.
Great article, not just for historic view..But the I hate Ireland brigade is out loving the the self loathing…look at cb2010….another example…good play journal good play keep spreading the depression!
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