Ms Kathleen O'Meara:

I thank the Chairman and members of the committee. I am delighted to be here today on behalf of the Irish Cancer Society to present to them the evidence already available, which demonstrates that the plain packaging of cigarettes does, and will, work.
Our vision and ambition in the Irish Cancer Society is nothing less than a future without cancer. That is the why we fight tobacco with everything we have got. Smoking is the single biggest preventable cause of cancer in Ireland. Almost one in five deaths is attributable to smoking. If we tackle smoking, as a country we will have delivered the single biggest blow possible to cancer. We fully support the efforts of the Minister for Health in his ambitious target to make Ireland tobacco free by 2025. It can be done, and the key is the next generation. It is possible to have a generation that does not start smoking. In terms of how we do that, to successfully protect them from the tactics of the tobacco industry, which needs to recruit 50 new smokers a day in Ireland to replace those who quit and those who die, the answer is the plain packaging of cigarettes.
Plain packaging has four impacts. First, and crucially, it reduces the appeal of tobacco to young people; second, it stops smokers believing that some brands are less harmful than others; third, it encourages current smokers to quit; and fourth, it increases negative feelings around tobacco. I want to focus today on that first point, namely, reducing the appeal of tobacco to young people. We wanted to show members a short video – two minutes long – in which the children of Scoil Aonghusa in Tallaght demonstrate their response to branded cigarettes and plain packs. We made the video in the Irish Cancer Society. Unfortunately, it was not possible to show it in this room but yesterday evening we sent members a link to the video. We would ask them to view it because the message in the video is very clear: plain packs significantly reduce the appeal of cigarettes to children.
In terms of young people and teenagers who are also the target of the tobacco industry, 78% of smokers start before they are 18 and even though the rate of those starting to smoke is falling among young people, it is clear we have more to do to protect this particular group. The Irish Cancer Society together with our collaborators, the Irish Heart Foundation, commissioned research into the impact on young people of tobacco branding and standardised packaging. Focus group research was conducted last summer among a group of 15 and 16 year olds, both smokers and non-smokers, who were first shown branded packs. These sleek, expertly designed, coloured packs influenced everything from the teenagers' perception of the quality of the cigarette to the likely users of the brand and, ultimately, their likelihood to try them.
They were then shown examples of standardised packaging. These packs, with their dull colour and graphic health warnings, are immediately rejected by teens. The images showing the health effects of smoking strip away any glamour or fun attributes imbued by branded packs. We can make that report available to the committee.
For those teens who have tried smoking, most reported that the introduction of plain packaging would be enough to prevent them from trying cigarettes again. For those who smoked on a daily basis, plain packaging would encourage them to give up sooner.
The findings of our research mirrors similar research carried out in different parts of the world. Time does not allow me to name them all but I would like to refer to a study published in September 2013 by the Centre for Tobacco Control Research in the University of Stirling, in the United Kingdom, which sets out a comprehensive overview of 17 studies carried out between August 2011 and September 2013 across the UK, New Zealand and Australia. The findings of these 17 studies confirm that the plain packaging of cigarettes would reduce their appeal, enhance the effectiveness of health warnings, and ensure that smokers are not misled about the level of harm done by cigarettes.
Australia was the first country to introduce plain packs just over one year ago. Interestingly, very soon after the introduction of plain packs smokers began to complain about the taste of their cigarettes, convinced that they had changed for the worse but the recipe had not changed. It was the effect on the smokers of the removal of colour and branding, and the impact of stark pictorial warnings that were now enhanced.
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal showed that those smoking from standardised packs perceived their cigarettes to be lower in quality; perceived them to be less satisfying than the previous year; were more likely to have thought about quitting at least once a day; rated quitting as a higher priority; and tended to support the policy on standardised packaging. A more recent study published two weeks ago by the Cancer Council of Victoria into the impact of plain packs on the behaviour of smokers in cafés showed that pack display on café tables declined by 15% after the introduction of plain packaging. That was due mostly to a 23% decline in the percentage of patrons who were observed smoking.
All these studies show that the inclusion of a Quitline number on packs in Australia is essential. TheMedical Journal of Australiarecorded a massive 78% jump in the number of calls to the Quitline since plain packaging was introduced. On that basis, the Irish Cancer Society would strongly recommend the inclusion of a Quitline number in the legislation being brought forward by the Government, in other words, that the packs would have the Quitline number on them.
It is still too early to analyse some of the long-term effects on smokers in Australia but these early studies confirm the findings of our own research and the research conducted in the UK.
I am pleased to have had the opportunity to share with the Chairman and the members this evidence demonstrating that plain packs work. No one wants to see his or her child smoking. As legislators, the members have the power to ensure that children and young people are protected from the tactics of the tobacco industry, which does target them. We urge them to take this opportunity to protect the lives of the next generation, and to make smoking history in Ireland.