Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for his contribution. I join him in his tributes to the former chief executive of the Office of Tobacco Control, Mr. Tom Power, and extend our sympathies to his family. Through his work, Mr. Power left an outstanding legacy which we must complete.

The Minister of State said there are many challenges to face and the figures to which I will refer highlight the extent of those challenges. We have, however, come a long way. During the late 1990s I was a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children and, under the chairmanship of Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, the major project undertaken was to tackle smoking. It seemed a task that could result only in limited success but, fortunately, the committee's work was taken on board by then Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, and its recommendations led to the smoking ban in the workplace. We have reached a positive stage and we can map the progress made but we should not underestimate the challenges which still face us.

One fact that jumps off the page at the reader is the trend in cigarette smoking. TNS/MRBI carries out a monthly tracker survey on behalf of the Office of Tobacco Control and it presents a picture that causes some concern. More females than males aged 15 and up smoke, 24.1% compared to 23.7%. There is a significant number smoking between 15 and 18 years of age, 17.6%. The age group with the highest rate of smoking prevalence is the 19 to 35 year age bracket, with 32.4% smoking. The real challenge is not simply maintaining the ban on smoking in the workplace but tackling those statistics. We must aim to eliminate smoking almost entirely because of the destruction, death and resultant costs to this country of tobacco smoking. The report notes that smoking kills almost 6,000 people in Ireland every year. We have public debates on a monthly basis on the rate of road traffic fatalities, tragic deaths that affect hundreds of families every year. Along with that we have this statistic of 6,000 people dying every year as a result of smoke-related illness. The challenge is very significant.

Medical analysis shows that there is an immediate improvement in health once a person stops smoking. We still, however, have huge numbers dying as a result of tobacco smoke and we must continue to highlight that. The statistics on young people, particularly women, who smoke prove that the fact of tobacco causing 6,000 deaths per year does not get through.

We must campaign aggressively in advertising to dissuade young people from taking up or continuing with the habit. The Minister of State's closing comments on the introduction of a ban on the sale of cigarettes in packs of less than 20 will be supported by Fine Gael, as it will be by everyone committed to ending smoking. This commitment was made some time ago, however, during the 2004 legislation, when we were told there would be a ban on the sale of packs of ten cigarettes. That has not happened so there should not be any further delay and I hope to hear an announcement on this soon.

At this time of year, we look forward to the budget. In recent budgets there have been only modest increases in cigarette prices. Experts tell us that price is the main disincentive to cigarette smoking among young people. The Minister for Finance must listen to the Minister for Health and Children and ensure there will be a substantial increase in the price of cigarettes in the next budget because it is a way to reduce consumption and, thus, to reduce the 6,000 deaths per annum.

We must continue to remind ourselves of this figure because when we read these reports and congratulate ourselves on being European and world leaders in our efforts to rid society of tobacco smoke, we can think the job has been done when 6,000 people are still dying every year and 30% of young people are smoking. Huge challenges remain. If price can play a part in the reduction of cigarette consumption among young people, the obligation on the Ministers for Health and Children and Finance is to act.

The workplace ban has been a success. Complaints by third parties are acted upon quickly and prosecutions follow. Such action is necessary and effective. Walking into a pub is almost entirely different from just four years ago. At the time the Minister for Health and Children took a lot of abuse but showed a commendable degree of courage and acted in a proper fashion, showing genuine leadership. We are all now benefitting from that decision but more leadership is required on pricing and advertising because the mountain remains to be climbed and the public perception changed.

Huge numbers are under greater stress than ever, with young people facing challenges in life in a broad range of areas. The lure of cigarette smoking as an antidote to all their problems presents itself to thousands of young people every year in an attractive fashion. That is why, from a political perspective, we need to continue our campaign against smoking from a legislative and advertising viewpoint to change the mindset because the perceived short-term benefits of tobacco result in major long-term costs.

I compliment the new chief executive and staff of the Office of Tobacco Control on their work. Much more needs to be done but it is moving in the right direction. It is one of the few issues that has been tackled over the past nine or ten years with all-party support about which we can report genuine progress. We must not count our chickens too soon, however. We note from the statistics that major challenges remain, so we need to redouble our efforts concerning legislation, advertising and consultation. The figure of 6,000 people dying annually in this country from tobacco-related illnesses is scandalous. It is in everybody's interest to ameliorate the situation as soon as possible.