Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)

The Irish people use three general drugs as social drugs of choice in large quantities, namely alcohol, cannabis and cigarettes or tobacco. If the Government wanted to stop people smoking cigarettes, and did not just want to raise revenue, it would put €5 on each packet. That would stop people from smoking. This is simply a revenue raising exercise. As far as I can calculate the Government takes in €1.35 billion per year in cigarette taxes. I am not sure if that is accurate but I did a rough calculation on what the Government gets on this increase, and I know the amount I pay every day for a packet of cigarettes and roughly the revenue the Government takes from that packet. The Government should respect the 1 million smokers in the country and not denigrate them at every turn. They are good cash cows for revenue and should be treated with respect and not as the Government usually treats them in this House.

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