Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Figueras for his presentation, which was very interesting.

Dr. Figueras spoke about framework legislation that allows flexibility, perhaps he will elaborate on that. My next question is a bit of a novel question. In the Dáil last night we spoke about cigarettes and the fact that 50 cent has been put on a packet of 20 cigarettes in the budget. They now retail at €11. My sister died seven weeks ago from lung cancer. She was 35 years of age. She was a smoker but they said it was nothing to do with smoking. The reason I say this is that she had a stroke before she died and when she was in the acute stroke unit in St. James's Hospital, there were many stroke patients there who were a lot older than my sister Edwina and who were going outside to smoke even though they had just had a stroke. The staff were losing their senses over this. They were angry and upset that people who had had a stroke were still continuing to smoke. I phrase my question in the context of knowing people who smoke. It is not that I want them penalised but when one looks at insurance companies, for example, a person will have a more favourable policy if he or she is a non-smoker. Does it happen in other jurisdictions that non-smokers are prioritised in regard to health care or in some other way? My question comes from the premise of trying to help people and to incentivise them to give up smoking. Does Dr. Figueras believe this is something that could happen in this State and does it happen in any other country? I would be very interested to hear his view.