Pharmacists call on Government to cut VAT on condoms
Pharmacists today added their voice to growing pressure on the Government to cut tax on condoms.
The Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) insisted a drop in price could curb sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.
The body representing 1,600 chemists nationwide branded the present Government's approach to condoms as "utterly nonsensical".
Family planning agencies, opposition politicians and student organisations have already urged the abolition of the 21% VAT on the contraceptives.
Darragh O'Loughlin, chairman of the IPU's Community Pharmacy Committee, said classing condoms as luxury items sent out a mixed message about sexual health.
"How can the Government justify charging VAT on condoms?" he said. "By charging VAT on condoms, the state is making them unnecessarily expensive.
"Removing the VAT on condoms, as is the case in many other European countries, would send out a clear signal to people that the Government is encouraging them not to have unprotected sex, which risks sexually transmitted infections or an unplanned pregnancy."
In the first survey of its kind carried out in the Republic, last year's Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships found sexually transmitted infections had surged by 243% between 1998 and 2003.
The research carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland also showed 14% of people polled did not use a condom when having sex with a person they had met for the first time.
The IPU believes if the VAT was reduced more people would be encouraged to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections and the risk of unplanned pregnancies.
"It's bad enough that the Government charges VAT at 21% on all other medical devices, and on prescription creams, ointments, injection medicines and suppositories," said Mr O'Loughlin.
"These are not luxuries; they are absolute essentials and should not be taxed at the same rate as luxury goods.
"But charging VAT on condoms at the same time as running campaigns to encourage their use is utterly nonsensical."
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