Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The previous speaker stated that smokers do not interfere with anyone other than themselves but that is not the case. If the Deputy meets representatives of the Irish Heart Foundation, they will tell him that the single most important health initiative that would make a difference in terms of heart health and stroke is people giving up cigarettes. There is a wider benefit. It is not down to an individual. If we can encourage people to give up cigarettes, that has a wider benefit than the individual and the benefits to which he referred. I do not think it is down to an individual. The Deputy referred to people getting cancer and whether that is caused by smoking. It is proven that cigarettes cause lung cancer. Several decades ago, my father died of lung cancer. It is when you watch a person struggling for a breath, when the person has a thimbleful of breath, that it hits home, in a way that no advertisement could, just how impactful lung cancer can be.

If we can encourage even a small number of people to give up cigarettes as a result of the fact that they are more expensive, that would be a public good. I do not think it is down to individuals. This is a public health initiative and that is why it has been followed each year. It has not been solely about revenue raising; it has been about something wider. It is important to also have all of the initiatives in terms of public information campaigns and that kind of thing, but this price increase is for the common good and, for that reason, the Social Democrats will be supporting it.

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