Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil supports the Bill in principle. We would do so because we published similar legislation in November 2012. That Bill would have prohibited the use of trade marks, logos, brands, business or company names and other identifying marks on packaging of tobacco products. Fianna Fáil's Bill would have provided for the regulation of the use of any design of packaging or any design of a tobacco product otherwise related to the appearance, size or shape of packaging or tobacco products; the opening and contents of packaging; and any information to be included or omitted on packaging. Manufacturers would only have been permitted to print the brand name in a required size, font and location on the package which would have been predominantly dark green. It would have contained health warnings, including provision for graphic imagery highlighting the damage done by smoking. It would also have been an offence to buy, sell, import or manufacture any tobacco product which did not comply with the aforementioned proposals. The provisions and objectives of the Bill before the House have much in common with our proposed legislation.

The Bill will control the design and appearance of tobacco products and will remove all forms of branding, including trademarks, logos, colours and graphics from packs, except for the brand and variant name which will be presented in a uniform typeface. The objective of the Bill is to make tobacco packs look less attractive to consumers, to make health warnings more prominent and to reduce the ability of the packs to mislead people, especially children about the harmful effects of smoking. It is not aimed so much at those already addicted to these harmful and lethal products but rather at preventing children from taking it up in the first place.

Like many here I have been subject to lobbying by various groups opposed to the Bill. Some of the arguments deployed include the view that the packaging of tobacco products make little or no difference to consumption levels of the drug. However, we know that the tobacco industry has cynically invested heavily in package design to communicate subliminally specific messages to various groups in society. The Bill will take away one of the industry's significant means of promoting tobacco as a desirable product. As the majority of smokers start when they are children, packaging elements are, by definition, directed mainly at young people.

International research has shown that plain packaging discourages young people from smoking in a number of ways. Young people find plain packaging less attractive. It is not as sexy and does not have the mojo. Plain packs are seen as less cool. Plain packs also prevent any confusion about lighter coloured packs being less harmful to smokers. We know from internal documents from the tobacco industry that this has been one of its most crass and cynical tactics to lessen the perception of the impact of health warnings on packages.

The Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation recently commissioned a quantitative study with 15 and 16 year olds. The study found that cigarette packaging viewed as appealing has the power to generate buzz and motivate purchase whereas packaging seen as unattractive or old fashioned is immediately rejected. It also found that teens felt that the positive brand attributes of appealing packs, such as fun, glamour, masculinity and femininity can transfer to those who smoke them. For teens, packaging is not just about the look and feel of the pack, it is about how the smoker looks. They feel better with the brand. Plain packaging was immediately rejected by teens who expressed concerns about the look and feel of the packaging and how they were perceived by their peers, which was completely at odds with the image teens would like to portray of themselves. Overall the research established that teen smokers claimed they would quit when plain packs were introduced and non-smokers and light smokers said they were unlikely to seek to start smoking or to continue to do so.

The measure will also have positive benefits for those already addicted to tobacco. In December 2012, Australia formally introduced plain brown packaging for all tobacco products, accompanied by graphic health warnings taking up three quarters of the front of the pack. So far, it is the only country in the world to have taken this step. Early findings from a study in Australia suggest that plain packaging seems to make tobacco less appealing and increases the urgency to quit smoking. Smokers were asked whether they were as satisfied with their cigarettes as they were before plain packaging was introduced, and whether they felt the quality was the same. They were also asked how often they thought about the harms of smoking and about quitting smoking, and if they approved of the plain packaging policy. They were also asked if they thought the harms of smoking had been exaggerated.

The result indicated that smokers of plain packs were 51% more likely to look at immediately addressing their smoking addiction as a consequence of the initiative. Compared with smokers still using brand packs, the plain pack smokers were 66% more likely to think their cigarettes were of poorer quality than the previous year. They were 70% more likely to say they found them less satisfying. They were also 81% more likely to have thought about quitting at least once a day during the previous week and to rate quitting as a higher priority in their lives than they did when smoking brand packs.

The authors of the study concluded: "The finding that smokers smoking from a plain pack evidenced more frequent thought about, and priority for quitting, than branded pack smokers is important, since frequency of thoughts about quitting has strong predictive validity in prospective studies for actually making a quit attempt." They also stated: "Overall, the introductory effects we observed are consistent with the broad objectives of the plain packaging legislation."

I am sure the Minister will agree that Fianna Fáil has a proud track record on combatting the harm done by tobacco products and in facing down the powerful lobby acting on behalf of the tobacco industry. On 30 March we marked the tenth anniversary of the smoking ban in public places. In January 2003, as Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin launched a report on the health effects of environmental tobacco smoke in the workplace and gave notice of his intention to bring forward a ban. The advice contained in the report on the dangers of passive smoking was unambiguous. Ventilation technologies were insufficient to give workers full protection from the hazards of tobacco smoke and that exposure could best be minimised by a full ban.

The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer had also declared that environmental tobacco smoke included more than 50 known carcinogens. The bottom line is that one did not have to be a smoker to get cancer - one could get it from the smoker beside one.

Another priority was for the wellbeing of children. As they grow the exposure to environmental smoke reduces lung capacity and exercise tolerance. It lowers birth weight and has been identified as a significant contributor to asthma.

The ban, which was supported by all political parties, was brought forward as a positive, progressive health and safety measure that would bestow positive benefits to workers and the general public. Has the smoking ban saved lives and improved health? Last year a new study showed that more than 3,700 deaths have been prevented in Ireland because people are less exposed to second-hand smoke. The study showed that mortality decreases were primarily due to reductions in passive smoking, rather than a reduction in active smoking. The findings in the scientific paper were published in the medical journal PLOS ONEand follow research by Brunel University in London, the Environmental Health Sciences Institute, the Dublin Institute of Technology and the TobaccoFree Research Institute.

The study showed a 26% reduction in heart disease, a 32% fall in strokes and a 38% drop in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mortality. This was the first study to demonstrate that a reduction in stroke and respiratory illness was as a direct result of that initiative.

Earlier this year the British medical publication, The Lancet, published a review of 11 international studies which showed that smoking bans, including ours, have resulted in sharp falls in the numbers of children being admitted to hospital with asthma attacks and the number of babies born before full term. The number of children born before full term who are smaller than they should be given the stage at which they are born has declined by 5%.

Other research in 2012 has shown a significant 12% reduction in hospital admissions for acute coronary syndrome just one year following the introduction of our smoking ban and again two years later a further 13% drop in acute coronary syndrome admissions was recorded. In Ireland, the percentage of smokers who banned smoking in the home rose by a considerable 25%, compared with 17% in France, 38% in Germany and 28% in the Netherlands. These are significant achievements and we look forward to playing our part in assisting this legislation's enactment.

However, the smoking ban was not the only measure we put in place to combat tobacco addiction. We were the first country in the EU to eliminate all tobacco advertising from retail outlets. All tobacco products in shops are now stored out of sight. We banned self-service vending machines except in licensed premises and registered clubs. Research has found that these measures resulted in a massive fall in young people's awareness of and accessibility to the drug, cigarette. Plain packaging is the next logical step in progressively combatting tobacco addiction.

However, despite the progressive approach of all parties in this House we cannot become complacent. The fact is that smoking remains the largest cause of preventable death and disease in this country. It kills half of all lifetime users. Some 5,200 people in Ireland die from smoking-related illness every year. That means that today 14 people have died or will die from cigarettes. We have to do more about this and while we do not question the Minister's sincerity in this regard, we are not persuaded that the Government as a whole is really committed to the fight.

Let us consider that last October's budget announced €666 million in cuts for our health services and imposed a derisory increase of 10 cent on a packet of 20 cigarettes. On top of this, last year the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, and the then Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, hosted a meeting of the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers Advisory Committee. We need to remember this is an industry that costs this country €1 billion in health-care costs. To hold such a meeting essentially endorsing big tobacco and all the damage it does to the young people of the country was reckless. Obviously, the companies were ecstatic about the meeting. The Irish Tobacco Manufacturers' Advisory Committee described it as a very positive meeting with the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, and the then Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter.

The tobacco industry is not a normal industry and cannot be allowed a place up in the ministerial corridor. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, should consider broadening the scope of the Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014 to include a provision banning any lobbying by the tobacco industry of public representatives or officials. Prior to that, Ministers should lead by example and refuse to meet any representatives of the tobacco industry, an industry that is destructive to our society, our public services and to the delivery of our health service.

If asked why we are supporting this legislation I would respond that in Ireland, children start smoking at a younger age than in any other European Union country at approximately 16 years old. Some 87% of smokers started to smoke before the age of 18. Some 5,200 people die from smoking every year in Ireland - that is equivalent to the population of Tuam town being wiped out annually. In order to maintain current smoking levels, the tobacco industry has to attract 50 new smokers a day to replace those who have died. Given that most smokers start smoking before they are 18, it really needs to start recruiting children. So this is a critical initiative.

Our only concern about the Bill is that it has not secured EU approval for all its contents and that it is open to challenge in the courts which could result in the State being liable for damages. We hope the Bill is not being rushed purely for personal reasons as part of the Minister's enthusiasm to tackle this crisis.

It is essential that the legislation be watertight and any effort by the Minister to ensure that will be achieved will be fully supported from this side of the House.

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