Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

It is interesting that the Minister states his Department is not responsible. I got a letter from the Ceann Comhairle disallowing one of the questions I put asking if the Minister would support such a ban. It was disallowed on the basis that the Minister has no official responsibility to Dáil Éireann and that the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland is a self-regulatory organisation. Does the Minister know if his Department had any hand in encouraging the Ceann Comhairle to disallow that question? It seems strange to say that neither the Minister's Department nor it seems any other would answer a question about this because it is a question for advertising standards. This is clearly a political measure. As far as I remember, it was the Department of Health that introduced the Bill to ban tobacco advertising. This is a measure that should be taken in the interests of public health and of climate action, which clearly is the Minister's Department. We know that the fossil fuel companies have known since 1957 that burning fossil fuels causes increased CO2 levels.

We know they have engaged in massive, expensive campaigns of disinformation, just like the tobacco companies, to prevent that evidence from coming out. We need to treat the fossil fuel industry like the tobacco industry, banning the advertising of its products and their promotion through sponsorships.

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