Illegal sales of cigarettes to children in north-east Dublin

A study was conducted in defined areas of North East Dublin to document the percentage of retail outlets which sell cigarettes to children and which display notices indicating that cigarettes will not be sold to children. All retail outlets were identified and visited by one of 5 twelve year old boys who attempted to purchase cigarettes. 109 out of 134 ((81.3%) attempts were successful. In 29 (21.6%) attempts the boys were challenged by the vendor. However in 4 of these attempts the purchase succeeded. Warning notices were displayed in 8 premises. The conclusion of the study is that children can easily purchase cigarettes in North East Dublin. No prosecutions have ever been taken for illegal sales of cigarettes to children in Dublin. The law should be more vigorously implemented as part of an overall strategy to combat smoking among children.