David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I certainly do not want to re-enact the drama of that meeting of the Select Committee on Health that I was not at. I had a health appointment that day but my understanding of the confusion was that there was a parallel Bill that was being talked about that the committee was not aware of.

There was some discussion about whether it got it. If I understand what the Minister is saying - I was not at that committee hearing - that parallel Bill would look at point-of-sale advertising, colourings, flavourings, etc. When is it likely that Bill will progress? What is its status? When is that likely to be ready to come before the Oireachtas?

The Minister talked about the flavouring. He mentioned that in other countries there are a smaller number of flavours as opposed to just one. Is that something that is being considered? Are we look at reducing the number of flavours as opposed to just having one? I would certainly support, for environmental and other obvious reasons, a full ban on single-use products. That would be beneficial. Could I get more clarity on when the Minister thinks that Bill will be progressed? It is obviously not ideal that we have parallel Bills. We have a Bill that goes some of the way and a parallel Bill. I am not sure how we ended up in that space. Be that as it may, however, the Minister might answer my question on flavouring. What options are being looked at and what is the Minister's preference in terms of the discussions that are taking place?

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