Joe O'Reilly (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I share the view of Deputy Buttimer that there is a real link between the price of cigarettes and consumption. There are other extraneous factors at play such as health education and peer group habits, all of which impact, but price is at the centre. This is known from anecdotal evidence but also empirically from the kind of evidence cited by Deputy Buttimer and by the Taoiseach who, when moving the resolution, pointed to the drop in smokers in recent years from 24% of the population to 19%. He also spoke of the targeting of young people by cigarette companies.

Nobody should underestimate or should fail to restate the enormous suffering associated with the effects of smoking for individuals and families. It does not need chronicling now but none of us is unaware of it. We have all experienced it within our own families at some time or another. I take the point made by my two constituency colleagues that the illegal tobacco trade has to be tackled and extra resources are going into the Department of Justice and Equality for that purpose. It is important that extra gardaí are used to target the illegal tobacco trade and illicit smuggling trade.

There is merit in what Deputies Boyd Barrett and Higgins said about there being a number of poor people in a poverty trap because of addiction. For that reason it is great that patches are now available through the medical card. There should be a concentration on programmes to help stop smoking. I would like the Tánaiste to respond to this point.

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