Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. The presentations were excellent. I am a Government backbencher and none of us wishes to impose any cuts on anybody. If there are cuts, it is important they are minimised. I have been talking to the Minister, and I am trying to do my best for all the groups.

Mr. Chris Macey gave me a shock, and it is not because I am a non-smoker. A total of 79% of the price of a packet of cigarettes goes to the Government, while in the UK 90% of the price goes to the government. That is not acceptable. He said the tobacco industry makes €1.36 billion in profits per year and that it is subsidised by Irish taxpayers to the sum of €1 billion. It has reached the stage that we will have to examine the damage tobacco is doing to people. Cancer is an awful disease and I have experience with it because my father died from lung cancer. It was due mainly to smoking, which put me off cigarettes. My father got up every day at 7 a.m. In our house the living room and kitchen were one big room and for 15 or 20 minutes every morning it was unbelievable to listen to him coughing. It was only a matter of time but we could not get him off cigarettes. The Government will have to put some type of levy on smoking tobacco and the money should go back to the medical people, the HSE, cancer research or the Irish Heart Foundation. At this stage the industry is making far too much profit. It is sickening. The Minister is talking about introducing a smoking ban in cars carrying children. That is very important. I am delighted with the smoking ban because I like a night out in a restaurant for a meal.

I have met Mr. Sean Dillon on a few occasions and he is doing a fantastic job. In fact, I met him in Drogheda.