Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Penrose said that if he were Minister for Finance, he would be taxing the living daylights out of tobacco because he regards it as a discretionary product. I disagree with him because there is nothing discretionary about addiction. Anybody in this House who has ever had to watch somebody he or she cared about die from a tobacco-related disease caused by addiction knows full well it is far from discretionary. The vast majority of people who smoke in this country will tell you that they do not do so because they want to but because they cannot stop. This Bill is all about ensuring that my teenagers at home and the vast majority of other teenagers will not start. On that basis, it is a bloody marvellous initiative.

Tobacco is the only product on the market that, when used exactly as the manufacturer intends, kills one. When one says that, it floors one. The Irish and other nationalities do not genuinely appreciate the real and serious harm caused by smoking. This is borne out by a survey by the HSE in 2010. It reported that only 7% of the people surveyed knew that smoking killed half of smokers in the longer term. The most recent media campaign by the Irish Cancer Society shows also that one in every two smokers will die from smoking. This is phenomenal. Some 5,500 to 7,500 people die from smoking-related diseases in this country every year. Some 44% of the deaths are from cancer, and 90% of lung cancers are attributable to smoking. Some 30% of all cancers are caused by smoking. Some 25% of those who have heart attacks have them because they smoke, and 11% of all people who die from strokes do so because they smoke. These are startling statistics. That only 7% of people in Ireland know about them indicates we are probably not giving the Irish Cancer Society enough money to get the message across.

The message from this Bill is loud and clear. The tobacco industry will no longer be able to use its marketing tools to encourage our young people to start smoking. The industry needs to recruit 50 of our children every single day just to maintain its market. It does not want to maintain its market but to grow it. Our job is to make sure it shrinks. This Bill will take away one of the industry's key tools of promotion. The majority of smokers start when they are young adults or children, and packaging is mainly aimed at young people. The consequences for children, adult smokers and health services are absolutely enormous. The last statistic I saw was that nearly €3 billion of the €13 billion we spend on health services is for services for people with tobacco-related illnesses.

I am very proud of the current Minister's mission to tackle the powerful industry. The tobacco industry will not be given a veto over our public health policy, regardless of the legal thrusts. Some have already been made and, by Jove, I am sure there will be many more. Tobacco packaging and branding comprise one of the last remaining ways for the industry to market its products among our children. We will not be putting shareholders of international companies ahead of the future health of our children.

This is a battle that must be won. I agree with Deputy Collins that this Bill is not the only initiative required. There will certainly be a reaction from the tobacco industry, not just a legal one but one based on marketing and packaging. The Deputy stated packets will be made to slip into plain packets. This is a battle that we must win and we must be ready. This legislation is just one prong of an approach to ensure we will be tobacco free in Ireland by 2025. I very much support the initiative and all the organisations who have supported it, including the group that got together to seek a tobacco-free Ireland.

The legislation puts Ireland to the forefront in the implementation of legal obligations under the UN treaty and the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. By setting an example for other European countries, we will be demonstrating that the benefits of this legislation should not be confined to our shores. The legislation will help to protect current and future generations of Irish children, particularly those from underprivileged areas who are more prone to taking up smoking. We hope to look forward to long and healthy lives free of tobacco-related illnesses. I advocate speedy adoption of this legislation by the Houses and genuinely look forward to the day when Ireland can claim to be tobacco free.

See this speech in context