Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming here. I do not want to be smart but I thank each of them for the employee representatives, who happen to live in my constituency, that they sent to my constituency offices to lobby me in recent weeks on the basis that they are losing their jobs. It was a cute move.

I would respect the industry representatives if they said the packaging measures we are introducing will have a serious impact on their bottom line and that would cause their businesses a problem. I would respect that and we could have a conversation accordingly. They have come in here, however, and said that they do not target children. They said there was no conclusive evidence arising from the Australian initiative.

They claim that there is conclusive evidence that contraband, supplied by their own industry, will go through the roof in this country, in spite of all the contrary evidence provided by the Department and especially the Revenue Commissioners. If the witnesses came in and sincerely engaged with us, they would get a different reaction. I do not believe there is a single person in this room who does not believe that tobacco companies specifically target children in order to get new customers. On that basis, I have no respect for the witnesses. I have four small children at home. They are not getting their hands on them.

The regulatory impact assessment is not about asking Mr. Meagher's opinion. The decision has been made by the Government that this policy will be enacted. It was about providing the industry with the opportunity to make submissions. If one were to entertain the notion that the industry was only engaging with its own consumers, where do the witnesses propose to get the extra 50 customers per day? Who are they targeting with the hundreds of thousands of euro spent on marketing in this country every year? To whom are they actually speaking?