Plain cigarette packaging is to become a reality later this year, the Department of Health has confirmed.

From September 30, 2017, all tobacco products manufactured for sale in Ireland must be in ‘standardised retail packaging', which means no colours, graphics, logos or trademarks.

The brand and variant name will be presented in a uniform typeface for all brands, and the packs will be in one neutral colour.

This follows the signing of the commencement order this week by Junior Health Minister, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, for the standardised packaging provisions of the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Act 2015.

The aim of plain packaging is to make tobacco products look less attractive to consumers. Health warnings will also be more prominent to highlight the harmful effects of smoking.

The department explained that there will be a ‘wash through period allowed'. This means that any products manufactured and put on the market before September 30, 2017, will be permitted to stay on the market for a 12-month period.

This means that there will be a mixture of old-style and plain packaging products available for one year, however from September 2018, only plain packaging will be available.

Welcoming the legislation, the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, pointed out that smoking continues to be a major cause of illness and death in Ireland, and is estimated to cost Irish society €10.7 billion annually in healthcare, productivity and other costs.

"Almost 6,000 people die from tobacco-related disease and tobacco use. That is 6,000 families who go through the pain of losing a loved one when the stark reality is that these deaths are unnecessary and avoidable.

"The Government is committed to changing that and standardised packaging of tobacco products is one such evidence-based measure that will assist in achieving our overarching goal of having Ireland tobacco free by 2025," he commented.

Meanwhile, Minister Corcoran Kennedy described the tobacco pack as ‘the last advertising medium for the tobacco industry in Ireland'.

"It is a critically important form of promotion and standardised packaging is the next step in tackling the promotion and advertising of tobacco.

"There is strong evidence emerging from Australia that introducing standardised packaging is both effective and proportionate in reducing the toll of tobacco use on the population,' she said.

She also pointed to research which has shown that younger people are more influenced by brands.

"Ireland has the lowest age of children starting to smoke among all the EU member states and almost 80% of smokers in Ireland start when they are children. Standardised packaging will reduce the attractiveness of tobacco products and forms a key part of Ireland's strategy to reduce tobacco use, particularly uptake among children and young people," she added.

The news was welcomed by the Irish Medical Organisation, which insisted that the tobacco industry has 'invested billions of euro promoting tobacco in general, and the respective brands of the major manufacturers in particular'.

"These measures send the message that there is nothing appealing or attractive about tobacco, or the brands that dominate the industry," commented IMO president, Dr John Duddy.