Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State. My attitude to this legislation is framed by my personal experience. I have had asthma since I was a young boy. At one stage it was quite bad. With the use of medicine now it is, at worst, an inconvenience. It has given me a real insight, however, into what it is like to struggle with unhealthy lungs. I did not ask to be asthmatic, I had no say in that, so when I see people choosing to do something that will affect the health of their lungs, I feel we must do more to help them understand that choice is wrong.

The change our society has undergone in its attitude has been brought home to me by a television programme, "Mad Men". It is set in an advertising agency on Madison Avenue during the 1960s and everyone smokes all of the time in the programme. It is one of the features critics watching it have commented on. Some people have gone so far as to suggest that it makes smoking cool again because we see these impossibly glamorous and successful people smoking incessantly. That shows how important this legislation is.

It hits the nail on the head when addressing the role retailers and retailer display can play in influencing behaviour. It does this in two ways, one obvious and one less so. The obvious way is that if something is readily available, the supply will be increased and more people will use it. Retailers are also important in influencing attitudes, subtly but significantly affecting people's attitudes to what is acceptable or not. If something is on display, it creates the impression for young people that it is fine to do it.

"Nudging" is an idea that has entered the political culture. It was developed by Carl Sunstein, who now works in the White House as head of regulation. His idea is that very small changes can be prompted in people's behaviour that will have hugely disproportionate effects on how they live their lives that then affect how an economy or society performs. This legislation is an example of a nudge in that it removes material from public display. That will then influence cultural ideas about what is acceptable or makes me feel sexy. That is why I welcome the legislation, although I share Senator Fitzgerald's concerns about the weakening of the penalties.

Retailers are important in influencing people's behaviour through supply and resultant acceptance. I take exception, therefore, to the exclusion of duty free outlets from this legislation. If young children when they are going through duty free shops see these items displayed, they will form the idea that smoking is still acceptable or somehow cool. They can see people picking these up to go on holiday and will then associate cigarettes with leisure. The next step in the legislation is to tackle nudges going in the wrong direction, away from where we want, by stating that if something is bad for a person if they are in Ireland, it is the same if they are going abroad. Such clarity would improve the legislation.

The overwhelming majority of retailers are law abiding but there will be potential for the supply of illegal tobacco to increase. There will be people selling tobacco products on the black market. It would be a retrograde step if retailers in town centres who are implementing this law find their businesses being hurt by those on the edges taking advantage. If the Minister acted on that, it would speed up implementation of legislation.

This is good legislation and we should be proud that we are leading the way in public policy on smoking and educating people on its consequences. We cannot, however, afford to be complacent. I would like the Minister to accept Senator Fitzgerald's amendment because it would go some way to ensuring that we are relentless in dealing with this issue and its social consequences.

I was shocked when I was preparing my contribution to find out that 1 million people still smoke in Ireland and a very large proportion of them are young people. Senator Prendergast made the point that in many cases this bound up with people's idea of sexuality, that it is cool to smoke and if I do it, that girl or boy will really fancy me the next time he or she sees me. There is no point being attractive while making oneself sick and this area merits more work.

I commend the Bill to the House.