Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to speak on this resolution and I will support it. I realise it is difficult for people who need the fix of a cigarette and are addicted to smoking. I do not know how they manage given the current price of cigarettes. At some stage we will have to examine this because it will not continue to be an easy touch to get money from this area. Cigarettes will reach a price where people will not be able to afford them. It is important to cut down on the rate of tobacco consumption, but we cannot keep piling onto some unfortunate families where perhaps two in the family smoke. I do not know how they can afford it. I have supported this course in previous budgets so I will do so now, but it will reach a stage where it will have to be capped. We cannot just continue to hit it. There have been changes to the packaging and so forth in an attempt to make people safer and we always thought that the price would do that, but it has not had the impact we thought it would have. We have to examine the deeper reasons that people have such a longing and need. In this case, however, I support the resolution.

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