Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses, for whom I have great respect. They are doctors who deal with people and who know about those who have suffered from tobacco-related diseases. Dr. O'Connell should again name all those diseases for the benefit of those who may be watching in on proceedings or for those who are present in the room. I ask him to repeat that list for the benefit of the public, in order that people might realise all the different cancers and diseases he mentioned. I should add that I used to smoke in the past and found it really hard to give up cigarettes. One reason for this was that the brand in question, which I will not name, had a purple and white box and if I saw it anywhere in the pub, I would approach strangers and ask them for a cigarette. I am ashamed to say that but advertising does work. This is the reason there is an advertising industry. If one visits any shops on Grafton Street, they live and die by advertising.

I will start my questions with Professor Clancy. It will be an easy question for him because he is an expert in the field. Members have been told that 50 young people must be recruited each day to make up for the number of people who die from cancer. Why do Irish children take up smoking? They appear to take it up much earlier than children in other countries. Can Professor Clancy specifically define the reason for this? As legislators, can members do more in this regard? Perhaps the advertisement Professor Clancy circulated to members could be displayed on the committee room's video cameras, as it shows how awful are the diseases that smoking causes. Had I seen such pictures of rotten teeth and horrible decayed-looking lungs when I was younger, that would have stopped me from smoking.

My next question is directed towards Dr. O'Regan. In the past, I was a school principal and I am aware that some students smoke because they believe it helps them to lose or keep off weight. Perhaps Dr. O'Regan could comment on this. Is that a realistic viewpoint as young girls in particular are smoking for dietary reasons? The representatives from the Institute of Public Health in Ireland might tell me what can be done on the island of Ireland to make sure that smoking rates are brought down to the levels of those in, for example, California, Canada and Australia. Certain groups of doctors who are present this morning have mentioned that people from the lower socioeconomic groups, and girls in particular, are taking up smoking and continue to smoke even in spite of all the medical health messages being sent out.