Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

While a maximum period of three months is mentioned for suspension of a licence, it is important that we also state a minimum period. I presume the failure to state a minimum period means that, technically, suspension could be for just half a day or a very short period. Fine Gael has put forward a series of amendments proposing a minimum period. I agree with that. We must send out a message that the sale of cigarettes to children will not be tolerated and it is not enough to make an excuse such as someone has only been working for a few weeks and did not know the regulations. The owner of a premises must take responsibility for informing all staff of the rules on the sale of cigarettes. We need a minimum period for the withdrawal of a licence to ensure this happens. The Minister of State said there was a mandatory withdrawal period, but I would like her to expand on that. If there is not a minimum period for removal from the licence register, saying a withdrawal period is mandatory is insufficient because a judge could order that the offender be removed for a very short period such as a day or an hour or two. We must send positive messages with the legislation.

I commend the Government on what has been done in this area, particularly the ban on smoking in the workplace and the legislation that preceded this legislation, now being amended with regard to the sale and display of cigarettes and signage and so on. In that context, we should look at the statistics regarding the increase in the percentage of smokers in the 2007 figures. Perhaps we should not have expected to see much change or a decrease in the figures following the legislation. Perhaps too, if we looked at the statistics for 2008 and into 2009, we would now see a decrease. Can the Minister of State give any information on the percentage of the population who smoke?

The legislation has been very strong, particularly the ban on smoking in pubs, restaurants and workplaces and one would have hoped it would have made a significant difference. If it has not, we need to reconsider the situation. While some people may not smoke, others do and it seems we need to look at what is happening with young people. Research evidence seems to indicate that young girls, in particular, are smoking at an earlier age. They seem to see smoking as a way to keep their weight down. This may be due to the fact that the image of women portrayed to young people as attractive is an image of thin women.

We must counteract this by sending a different message. We must send the message that it is not attractive to smell of cigarettes. We must get the message out that it is not cool to smoke. We must win that battle, but statistics seem to indicate we are not winning it. I would love to hear if there are more up to date statistics that indicate a turn around in the percentage of the population that smokes. We must take the issue seriously because of the enormous effect on people's health. If people start smoking at the age of 14 or 15, they will find it very hard to give it up when they eventually realise it is affecting their health. Usually, people have been smoking for from ten to 20 years by that time.

It is important we succeed with prevention. I have no doubt that everybody here wants to make a difference. It is important to listen to the concerns of both sides. We do not want to put a newsagent out of business because there may be an small error in the legislation, but we must ensure that people cannot get around the serious aspect of the legislation by giving some excuse as to why they breached the law and should not, therefore, be removed from the licence register for any significant period. The legislation as proposed today allows them to make such excuses. We have to ensure that we have some basic standard of removal and timeframe in which the person who owns the premises and has broken the law is taken off the register.

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