Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

It is an insult to dress up this measure as a behaviour-altering measure. In reality, it is simply revenue generating. If this Government were serious about tackling the tobacco industry, it would start at the top with those companies that poison tobacco users rather than with the victims. Tobacco smoking is an addiction. People need to smoke and unless they get help to come off the drug, they will continue to smoke. The Government's solution is to make them pay more. This will not take anybody off cigarettes.

If the Government were really serious about improving the health service and people's health, it would have considered in the budget the idea of a sugar tax. There are alternatives to using drinks infested with high quantities of sugar. People have a choice in this regard but if one is addicted to cigarettes one must continue smoking unless one gets the required help. If the Government's measures were guided by a desire to improve health, why did it not introduce measures to tackle obesity? That the Government did not introduce such a measure exposes the option before us as an easy one. It is a question of targeting those regarded as a soft touch, or those who must smoke because smoking is an addiction, rather than investing in a means of weaning them off nicotine.

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