Ms Averil Power:

As I said, cancer prevention is a massive priority for us. It was called out as one of the key recommendations in the national cancer strategy because four out of ten cancers are preventable through lifestyle changes like a proper diet, reduced alcohol intake, not smoking and all those factors. There have been some positive improvements. For example, the alcohol restrictions, such as alcohol labelling, which we supported, that have been introduced in recent years have been positive.

We are very frustrated by the lack of progress on tackling youth vaping and the massive damage that is doing. I know the committee has looked at the matter in terms of the undermining of decades of incredibly positive work in Ireland to tackle youth smoking and that a vaping epidemic has been allowed to happen. I know that positive steps have been taken by the Minister in terms of supply restrictions through age restrictions and things like that. Deputy Shortall has hit on the point that unless the relentless market targeting of vaping products at children, and of unhealthy foods at everybody, is tackled, we will not really get to the core of the issue.

As Professor Kennedy said, part of health outcomes in disadvantaged areas is down to inequalities in terms of access to healthy food and part of it is health behaviours. We have to find a targeted and effective way of dealing with that. It is crazy when one compares the marketing might of those industries, as the Deputy has done in terms of looking at the commercial determinants, with the work the State is trying to do in public health. Public health messaging is important but we would also say that people know that smoking is bad for them. It does no good for the State and the ICS to tell people smoking is bad for them if they are not being given proper support to help them to quit. The ICS saying people need to eat better is no use if people cannot afford to eat better. It is no use telling kids they need to eat better while at the same time they are being bombarded with advertising point-of-sale marketing for unhealthy foods. We have to look at this issue in the round.