Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for all the work they have done and are doing in this area. It is very valuable and they are making a huge contribution in this regard. One point on which I wish to touch is the high level of smoking within the poorest socioeconomic areas. How do the witnesses think this issue can be tackled? While legislators can make all the changes in legislation that are required, I have spoken to a number of people working in clinics in public hospitals who note the level of smoking is quite high. I even spoke to someone who was running a high-risk pregnancy clinic who advised me of a patient who presented recently and who was smoking 300 cigarettes per week. The person worked out that the cost of those cigarettes was greater than the amount of the social welfare payments she was receiving. Therefore, this indicates there must be a very high level of sales of illicit cigarettes in some of those areas. How should one deal with such areas in respect of the education process, because we do not appear to be making as big an impact in some of these areas as is the case elsewhere? From the witnesses' own experience, how should this problem be approached? One must approach it at the outset from the perspective of younger people but one must also approach parents. The witnesses may have some ideas in this regard, as I believe much work remains to be done in that area and it is important that it be tackled. I again thank all the witnesses for their contributions this morning.