Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the contributors for taking the time and effort in preparing their contributions. Some constructive proposals have been made this morning. As we sit here today, 14 people per day in real terms will die either at home or in hospital as a direct result of smoking and smoking-related illnesses. That is a conservative estimate and that is where we are coming from as a health committee.

I certainly support the idea of banning the sale of cigarettes in markets and fairs and believe the legislation on this should be changed. It would not be a huge problem to do so. I think that is an extremely constructive proposal. Another issue raised concerned smartphone apps and the proposal from the Minister of State with responsibility for small business, Deputy Perry. Where are we with that? Has any progress been made on it? What can this committee do to make sure this is followed through on because it is an important point and something that can be implemented? We should give assistance to anything that can be helpful to people who are running businesses.

Obviously, there is concern about the illicit trade. Based on the submissions this morning, it is running at around 20%. All of the witnesses are involved in the business trade. Where do they see the deficiencies in dealing with the illicit trade? They have already identified the ports issue, which needs to be followed up on. Where else do they see deficiencies relating to the illicit trade? If we want to deal with this issue, we also need to deal with the illicit trade, which is an important issue. Can the witnesses talk about other proactive things that can be done either by the gardaí, customs or Revenue? What things could be implemented overnight? Again, I thank the witnesses for their contributions.