Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

It will be successful if there is a 2% drop in cigarette consumption. Some 100 million cigarettes fewer being smoked is not an insignificant amount. While the yield from excise is large, a greater amount of money goes to the health budget for smoking-related illnesses. The statistics show that the predominant cause of ailments such as heart disease is smoking. Deputy Ring has a point that alcohol and narcotics are damaging but smoking is killing people in large numbers. Sometimes fiscal policy can be used to change such situations. I thank the House for its support for the two resolutions.

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