Madam - Contrary to the view of Hugo Brady Brown (July 4th), I believe that a levy on chewing-gum would have no effect on the amount of litter on our streets. They are strewn with cigarette butts, even though these are very heavily taxed. Temple Bar is awash with vomit, even though drink is heavily taxed.
Taxing chewing-gum would make it more expensive, but at 60 cents a packet, you would need to have an incredibly large levy to change people's habits. Once the product is bought, no amount of tax will stop a person littering.
Fining people who litter is the only way to tackle our litter problem. We need proper enforcement of the litter laws. - Yours, etc,
TOM NEVILLE, Blackrock, Co Dublin.