Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will support the financial resolution. I have sympathy for the hard-pressed smoker who is addicted to tobacco and who has been hit time and again with excise increases. I support the objective of working towards a smoke-free Ireland and we commend the Government on adopting the strategy and implementing the policies designed to bring it about. We accept the increase will hit people in the pocket and the issue is whether adequate resources are being given to the Revenue Commissioners and Customs and Excise to deal with the importation, smuggling and sale of illegal cigarettes in this jurisdiction. That is depriving the Exchequer of vast sums of money and defeating the purpose of this initiative on public health grounds. If people still have access to cheap cigarettes, this is not a deterrent and will not incentivise them to try harder to kick the habit if they want to quit smoking. We support the resolution on public health grounds and it brings in more than €50 million in a full year.

Primarily, we support this on public health grounds because other measures have not worked. Consumption levels are decreasing but many young people are starting to smoke. Given the insidious nature of the product, if people start at a young age, the likelihood is that they will remain addicted for the rest of their lives. That is an horrendous outcome for many people and is primarily why we support the measure.

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