Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

The Taoiseach mentioned that the increase was due to health concerns. Perhaps he will clarify when those concerns were adopted by both Government parties. I do not have their pre-election programmes before me and I do no know whether they entered into this commitment during the election.

It is a revenue-raising measure. While their are health grounds for the increase, it is not one of the measures that Sinn Féin submitted in our pre-budget submission, as it will negatively affect the finances of those who will not give up cigarettes. I am disappointed, given that approximately €5 billion is lost to the black economy, particularly in terms of cigarettes. This issue has not been tackled. Time and time again, the business community has-----

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