James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be as quick as I can but this is a matter that has been close to my heart for a long. There are 5,200 Irish people dying every year in this country from tobacco-related illnesses, which is a staggering number. There are 700,000 Europeans dying every year from tobacco-related illnesses. This is the one legal product which, if used as prescribed by the manufacturer, will kill one of every two people who use it over a long period. Children are particularly price-sensitive and I have no doubt this measure will dissuade them from smoking.

People have discussed the illicit trade and statistics indicate that 90% of this trade is contraband rather than counterfeit. As Deputy Kelleher indicated, these products are manufactured by tobacco companies in other jurisdictions before being smuggled into Ireland. I want people to think long and hard before they drag long and hard. If a person has a cigarette that costs 50 cent, every time he or she looks at it that person could consider whether to use it then or wait until later. The smuggling rate has decreased from 15% to 11%. This measure will raise €53 million in a full year and €6 million this year alone. It is an important part of achieving a tobacco-free Ireland, which we hope to achieve by 2025. That will equate to less than 5% of people in the country smoking cigarettes.

I will not delay the House as Members know my views on the matter. There is a cost to our health service and our industries arising from tobacco, which causes ill-health, absenteeism and so on. There is also a cost to society. Tobacco causes pain, anguish and distress to individuals and families who must watch loved ones die from illnesses that would have been entirely predictable had they not become addicted to tobacco in the first place. I have heard people argue that this measure will disproportionately affect the working class: tobacco is one of the main reasons working class men and women die younger than other people. We must help them become aware of the problems of this drug - it is a toxic drug - and as Deputy Kelleher indicated, we should help them kick the habit. The easiest action to take is to ensure people do not take up the habit in the first place. I pay tribute again to Mr. Gerry Collins and his family for the bravery he showed in making that series of advertisements before he died of lung cancer. To him and his family I say a heart-felt "thank you". I do not know how many hundreds or thousands of lives their dad has saved.

If one sees a person dying from cancer and watches him or her slowly disappear as he or she becomes increasingly emaciated, if one looks at an individual whose lungs are so wrecked that he or she cannot walk from A to B without using an oxygen cylinder and if one sees people who have had strokes or heart attacks, have been left paralysed or have lost limbs as a result of the effects of peripheral vascular disease, one will be aware of the impact of tobacco. What I have described are just some of the things this horrible drug does.

Deputy Joe Higgins outlined his support for plain packaging, which I welcome. He also referred to the tobacco industry, an industry we do not have in this country. We are not anti-smoker but anti-smoking. As stated, we want to prevent people from taking up the habit. I have yet to meet a smoker - I include those in this Chamber who smoke and those who tend to represent smokers - who wants his or her children to take up the habit. Deputy Billy Kelleher was absolutely correct when he referred to the power of the tobacco companies and their absolute determination to undo the efforts of the Government and Members across the House to have a tobacco-free Ireland by 2025.

I commend the measure to the House. It is progressive, will help to fight the scourge of tobacco and protect children into the future.

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