Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the 50 cent increase in the price of a packet of cigarettes. I speak to many people who smoke and the majority of them do not want to smoke. We must do something to tackle the issue, for example, providing nicotine patches. Every family has been affected by cancer. My father died from the disease and every second smoker will die as a result of smoking. Deputies will have seen a fantastic anti-smoking campaign on television in recent years featuring a man from Dublin who was dying of cancer and members of his family. He died a few months after the film was made.

We keep talking about educating people. Many smokers have been smoking for 20, 30 or 40 years. We need to get older people to quit smoking because if children see their mum or dad smoking or, for that matter, drinking all the time, they come to believe that smoking and drinking are part of our culture. We must take serious action on cigarettes.

The 50 cent increase in a packet of cigarettes will probably result in an increase in smuggling in Border areas. We must clamp down on smuggling. At least we know the ingredients used in cigarettes sold here, whereas cigarettes being smuggled across the Border are often from Third World countries.

We should focus on educating people who have been smoking for a long time in the hope that it will have an effect on their children.

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