Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

My problem with the Irish Cancer Society's policy traditionally is that it always hits on price increases to try to overcome the damage done by nicotine addiction. Unfortunately, that increase hits the poorest people in society. As the submission states, smoking is the greatest contributor to health inequalities and accounts for up to half the difference in life expectancy between the richest and the poorest groups in our society. Is this because there is a higher level of addiction among people with lower incomes? If so, piling additional costs on an addiction that is difficult to break places additional hardships on people who are already stretched financially. I always vote against the Government's increases under spurious health arguments when the reality is that it wants another grab at working class people's profits.

The executive summary of the Irish Cancer Society's provisions does not seem to refer to the advertising of tobacco, which remains prevalent in various ways. Is this not a key area to hit? Would it not be better to commit resources to helping people overcome this addiction without breaking their pockets? I fully agree with hitting companies' profits up to the limit. I am in favour of taking the companies into public ownership and, on a different basis, recognising smoking as a serious health and societal hazard.

Be it a site value tax or a property tax, the reality is that it is another grab. It will be a tax on the shoulders of people who are bailing out speculators and bankers all over Europe. In many cases, people have been impoverished as a result. The domestic economy is trashed. Whatever form the tax takes, Mr. Lyons is in favour of placing another burden on those people. Some of us fundamentally oppose that idea.