Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know we are talking about consuming but consuming all the information from everybody this morning means I have lost track of where I have been in the past hour or so. I agreed with some of the questions in respect of the import of cigarettes. I think customs officers in airports and ports are doing a very good job trying to curtail the amount of illegal tobacco coming into the country. In the past, this committee was told that there has been a significant improvement in preventing illegal cigarettes entering the country. I missed most of this morning's presentation because, as one would say, I was present in the flesh in my constituency for a different reason. Somebody said there was a €42 million turnover in tobacco products in the retail industry. Do the witnesses have any statistics about the profit made in retail in poorer areas? We heard from people in the medical profession this morning that the level of smoking in poorer areas is higher than in areas where people are better educated and live in a different social environment.

Does each witness believe the medical evidence that has been given, not only this morning but across the board, that smoking kills? Do they believe that as individuals because it is very important for me to understand where the retail industry is coming from? I am concerned that many of the presentations this morning argued that the legislation would be the bad guy because people will lose their jobs. Somebody over there made a flippant comment about how the money taken in through Revenue helps build hospitals and schools. I find that very offensive because smoking is the reason people are dying and hospitals are inundated. I spent the last week and a half in St. James's Hospital with a family member with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He knows that the reason he has the condition is because he smoked. Three years ago, I buried my sister-in-law who had lung cancer because she smoked. That is the reality of smoking. It affects everybody in every walk of life. Do the witnesses believe smoking kills?