Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)

In supporting the Bill I recall the remarks of the mother of a friend of mine who had another son who was a sales representative for a tobacco company. She referred to him as "the drug pusher". In a way it was a joke but it was also a serious point because her husband had died from the effects on his lungs of smoking. We should see tobacco companies as drug pushers because that is what they are. I will not recount all the statistics, some of which I was going to include in my speech, because they have already been mentioned by the Minister of State and other speakers. The House should send a clear message that tobacco producers are drug pushers.

I will refer to some statistics I dug up. The tobacco industry argues that the annual tax take from tobacco is approximately €1.2 billion. However, the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Tony Holohan, estimates that the cost of treating tobacco related illnesses is €2 billion per annum. Tax revenue from tobacco is, therefore, not sufficient to cover the cost of trying to undo the damage caused by tobacco products.

I ask the Minister to monitor carefully whether the legislation is effective. The single great achievement of Deputy Martin when he was Minister for Health and Children was the introduction of a smoking ban in pubs and other public places. Despite the ban and other tobacco related campaigns, 29% of the population continues to smoke. Deputy Wallace, for example, referred to the number of smokers among his daughter's classmates. Figures from 2007 show that 56% of women and 44% of men in the 18 to 29 age group were smokers. If these shocking statistics are still valid, they would highlight a burgeoning and devastating problem among young people, especially young women.

If the legislation does not have a significant impact, I urge the Minister for Health to go further on four different fronts. As a number of speakers have argued, the tax take on tobacco should be increased. Careful consideration should be given to how to tackle the serious problem of tobacco smuggling. Apart from pushing tobacco products, smuggling results in a loss in revenue.

We must also help people who want to quit smoking. Ireland's expenditure on encouraging people to stop smoking is only half the level of that in Britain. We should try to match our expenditure levels with those of Britain.

I am fortunate in that I have never smoked. My father's decision to give up smoking when I was about 13 years old was a tremendous lesson for me. We should consult smokers who wish to give up their habit to ascertain their views on how best to achieve that outcome. Smoking illustrates that education is not always the solution because every smoker knows the harm the habit causes. Smokers may have a useful contribution to make on how to promote smoking cessation.

There may be a case for following the example of Australia by legislating for the introduction of plain tobacco cartons with tobacco warnings and the producer's name printed in plain font at the bottom of the packet.

In this age of austerity tackling smoking successfully is a win-win scenario for the State and its citizens. More lives will be saved and fewer people will suffer the debilitating effects of strokes, heart disease and cancer. It should be noted that if €1.2 billion is taken in tobacco taxes and €2 billion is the annual cost of treating tobacco related illnesses. There is, therefore, significant scope for achieving savings, not to speak of the thousands of lives that could be saved.

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