Ireland´s Minister for the Environment Dick Roche plans to increase the tax on plastic shopping bags. The move follows increasing evidence that the shock factor of having to pay for bags has diminished, with increasing numbers of bags being sold. When the tax was introduced in March 2002 bag sales hit a record low of 85 million. Sales increased to 115 million in 2005 and are expected to reach 130 million this year.

Levies collected by the Department of the Environment have increased from EUR 7m in 2002 to EUR 17m last year. The current bag levy is 15 cents (GBP; around EUR 0.22) and the organisations Friends of the Earth (www.foe.co.uk) and Irish Business Against Litter have called for it to be doubled to 30 cents. However, the minister is understood to favour an increase to 20 cents, which could come into force almost immediately.