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

It is very difficult. We had the medical people appear before us for the morning session and now we have the submissions from the witnesses. Today I feel like Solomon - which is right? Is it jobs, is it death? That was the message that came across at the earlier session. Perhaps I can quote from some of what was stated earlier. It was stated that one in two smokers will die from tobacco related illnesses. The doctors compared it, saying it was like the flip of a coin, one has a 50% chance of dying. Dr. Luke Clancy said that we respond emotionally to packaging. Perhaps Mr. Mike Ridgway would comment on that. The point I made earlier this morning is that there is a whole industry around marketing, sales and packaging which is so important. Yet when we hear the witnesses speak it is as if they are coming from the other end because there will be plain packaging and it will be difficult to recognise counterfeit or illicit cigarettes. I asked the assistant commissioner here about two weeks ago if it would make a difference and if it would increase smuggling and he assured me it would not. I also concur with Senator Jillian van Turnhout that Revenue considered it had a very strong label to recognise if cigarettes were counterfeit. I can acknowledge that those in the retail trade make a profit, I read somewhere that they make a profit of about 3%. Is that correct?

Last week my colleague, Deputy Regina Doherty, stated that she too recognised there are difficulties. For example, would electronic cigarettes or nicotine replacement therapies be a viable product to sell rather than cigarettes? I understand the delegates are worried about jobs and so on. As I said at the outset we are worried about deaths. As Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said, this is health committee and that is our main concern.

Ms Sharon Higgins mentioned intellectual property. In regard to the High Court of Australia that ruled on 15 August 2012 by a six to one majority that the Government's plain tobacco packaging legislation was constitutionally valid, Ms Higgins said today that in terms of intellectual property Ireland would suffer because the case is not as solid. Is that disingenuous or can she give me some evidence in comparison to the ruling found in Australia?

Ms Tara Buckley made some very good points on the issues on which we need to strengthen. We heard others from the doctors today who said that we should not sell cigarettes to anyone under the age of 21, also that we should ban smoking from play-yards and open areas and that all of this must be key in to the whole debate. The doctors were emphatic that this is only one part of what needs to be done to improve public health. There are many more areas to be tackled.

I want to hear about the flip-side of it. None of the witnesses has said that packaging promotes smoking. Again, the doctors told us they had evidence to show that it was cool for young people to smoke certain types of cigarettes and that women, in particular, like the packaging. Will the witnesses comment on women using smoking for slimming purposes? That appears to be the cool attitude and that is where we have a worry. I understand how the witnesses are worried but we are worried about health.