The Republic of Ireland will raise the minimum age for the purchase of cigarettes to 21, designed to reduce the country’s adult smoking rate to less than five per cent.

Lawmakers in the country said in a statement on Tuesday, that the plan would make Ireland the first country in the EU to take such measure, 20 years after it also became the first country in the world to ban smoking in workplaces, including pubs and restaurants.

The government said currently, 18 per cent of the population over the age of 15 are smokers, and the evidence showed that Smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke kills an estimated 4,500 people a year in Ireland.

It added that raising the minimum purchasing age would make it harder for young people to access tobacco products through direct and proxy buys, as well as social sources.

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