Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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I express my support for the Minister and welcome the publication of the heads of the Bill.

I have a couple of related questions.

If we are to succeed in encouraging a further reduction in the number of people smoking, it is very important to close the back door through which cigarettes come. This refers a little to the points raised by Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin. Last week I raised a matter in the Topical Issue debate and one of the things which came up was that the Minister for Finance believed that although a person was legally entitled to bring in 800 cigarettes from abroad, in reality a lot more were being brought in. Can the Department of Health put pressure on Revenue to ensure this door is blocked, as well as the importation of illegal cigarettes? I have reason to believe that in certain parts of my constituency approximately one third of cigarettes sold are illegal. Apart from the fact that it is bad people are smoking cigarettes, it is really important that those involved pay tax on them.

What evidence has emerged from Australia on the success of its legislation? Do the tobacco companies have realistic grounds on which to take the State to the cleaners when they oppose the Minister's legislation? I hope the answer is no, but they are hardly sabre rattling without having some prospect of success on that front.