Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to get a few moments to speak on the motion. I said earlier that I would be supporting it because it is one facet of our attempts to deal with the chronic issue of smoking and the legacy effects it has on households and on both heavy and passive smokers. It saddens me that, notwithstanding increases over the several budgets while I have been a Member of the House, smoking has still not abated. To see young people from the end of national school right through to third level continuing to take up smoking, given its cost, is sad. This trend is only getting worse. I listened to Deputy Harty speak from a medical perspective and it is clear that we know the damage and serious illness caused by smoking. We have all known people who can hardly speak because they are short of breath and in a bad way due to lung disease from smoking and it is sad.

We must have better awareness campaigns and we must get into the schools, particularly our national schools, to get the young people to teach some of us older people not only about smoking but other bad habits too. I find in the case of Tidy Towns and the campaign for a clean environment that it is the young people who are teaching the older people how to mend their ways. They tap us on the shoulder if something is being done which should not be. I have great faith in the young people. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. They will teach us. We must ensure that the money garnered from this measure tonight is ring-fenced for cancer care groups and other anti-smoking campaigns.

Every day of the week, hospices, cancer care groups and the community at large provide support and wonderful work is done by voluntary organisations. Despite this, cigarettes are still being peddled and sold.

Many colleagues who told me they would vote against the resolution raised an issue of which I am aware. Will the trade go underground completely? Will cigarettes be sold in a similar manner to substances sold on the black market? Evidence has proved that severely damaging ingredients are in black market cigarettes. People think they are getting a bargain, but they are coffin nails, as Woodbines were called at one time. It is a very serious issue.

It is important that the money is ring-fenced and there are proper health and awareness campaigns. We saw the effects of the smoking ban. Last week I travelled to a place where smoking was allowed in restaurants and bars and it was horrific. We are lucky, because the health of people and the staff and management of premises were damaged by passive smoking. We need to do an awful lot more, but we need to ring-fence the money.

I would agree with another increase of 50 cent if it meant decreasing prescription charges by 50 cent. In some cases, people require prescriptions because of the damage done by smoking. It is a counter argument. I would support a measure to lessen the impact of prescription charges via this tax. That did not happen. Sin scéal eile. I will support the measure.

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