Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Like one of the previous speakers, I, too, wonder whether we have reached a tipping point in the context of the price of cigarettes. Yesterday, I was in a queue in a shop behind a lady who I could tell was suffering social disadvantage. I saw her trying to buy a couple of small sweets for her child. She then paid out €14.50 for a box of cigarettes. What struck me was that I knew she did not really have the money to buy cigarettes and I knew it was putting incredible strain on the family. How are we helping her by putting an extra €2.50 cost on her this week with the increase in excise duty? As mentioned a few minutes ago, perhaps the Government should have stated it would ring-fence the extra revenue accruing and give it to the Garda or a drugs task force or do something with it that people could understand. At this stage, after carbon levies and everything else, this increase is probably a step too far.

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