Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. With more than one in four of the Irish population smoking, it is imperative that the Government make all the necessary adjustments to current legislation to ensure that health policy in regard to smoking is properly reflected in law. More than 5,000 people die each year as a result of smoking and half of all long-term smokers die early because of a smoking-related disease, yet it is proving very difficult to deter people, young and not so young, from smoking.

Successive Governments have highlighted the price of tobacco products as a factor in smoking rates. It is now the case that Irish cigarette prices are the most expensive in the European Union. The country is experiencing all the ravages of recession, yet more than one quarter of the adult population smokes. Other factors to remember are the increasing availability of products to aid smoking cessation and the huge strain smoking puts on the health system. A number of years ago more than 36,000 hospital admissions were as a result of smoking.

Although to date the expensive nature of tobacco products in Ireland appears to have had little effect on the population's smoking habits, there is evidence that the price increases help reduce smoking levels. A European study found that a 10% increase in cigarette prices results in a 5% to 7% decrease in the number of smokers. The World Health Organisation has backed higher taxation on tobacco products as the single most effective way to encourage smokers to quit and, crucially, to prevent children from taking up the habit.

As tobacco prices rise so too does the attractiveness of the black market for cigarettes. Duty free cigarettes are estimated to account for 6% of the market and illegally imported black market cigarettes for 14% of the market. Those who use illegally imported black market cigarettes face a number of dangers, not least that the cigarettes were produced without any proper oversight and thus the ingredients used are only to be guessed at and may include extremely harmful toxins.

The European Court of Justice ruling which resulted in the necessity of the Bill before the House related to minimum pricing for cigarettes. It is now five years since the European Court of Justice brought proceedings against three countries, Ireland, Austria and France, having decided that they contravened the EU directive on excise duty on cigarettes as they undermined competition.

The provisions of the Bill focus on controlling or regulating the promotion of tobacco products rather than setting a minimum price. They aim to ensure that tobacco products will not be available at a reduced price or free when a person purchases another tobacco product.

I understand the spokespersons for Action on Smoking and Health have expressed concerns at the ruling of the European Court of Justice and have underlined the success of high prices in dissuading would-be smokers and the high cost of smoking to the country's health service. The Irish Cancer Society meanwhile has backed price increases and has also called for comprehensive smoking cessation programmes. I suggest that the effectiveness of various smoking cessation programmes be tested on medium to large community groups and the process and results be televised in an effort to inform people of the alternatives available and the success rates of various programmes. Televising such a process similar to that of "Operation Transformation" would give people encouragement that change can be brought about and it could show them the health benefits to be gained.

Following the ruling of the European Court of Justice fears were expressed that the new regime would result in widespread price drops for cigarettes but this has not been the case and four years since the ruling we have seen few price reductions and certainly not the avalanche that was feared in 2008. While the European Court of Justice ruling militates against instituting minimum pricing it concedes that fiscal legislation can be used to deter people from smoking without undermining freedom to determine prices. The ruling also has implications in terms of setting a minimum price for alcohol but once again the governments are free to use fiscal legislation to disregard without instituting a minimum price for a particular product.

This Bill is a common sense approach to difficulties raised by the judgment of the European Court of Justice, one which recognises the need to uphold competition laws while simultaneously ensuring that an important element of Irish health policy is properly reflected in our legislation.

See this speech in context