Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

With regard to Senator O'Toole's announcement on standing for the Seanad on the next occasion, I am not sure he fully appreciates that if the Seanad is to be reformed or abolished, we need a Seanad to pass the legislation. In light of this, he might reconsider his position.

With regard to last night's "Prime Time Investigates" programme, a number of weeks ago I raised this very issue, about the continuous increase in excise duties on tobacco in Ireland. This has been done by successive governments on the false assumption that as the price of cigarettes is increased, consumption will fall. The fact is that one third of cigarettes smoked in Ireland today are illegally imported. We have to draw the right lessons from this. The price of cigarettes here is now double the European average. This is a problem we have created and we have to deal with its essence, which is the level of excise duties and the price of cigarettes. If we do not reduce the price of cigarettes to the European average, we are enriching criminal gangs and dissident republican organisations which deal in this illegal trade with a vengeance. The loss to the Exchequer is estimated at €500 million to €1 billion, and for economic reasons alone and in the interests of the public finances, it is necessary to address this problem. The only solution is to deal with the pricing of the product and the taxation on cigarettes.

We had thought the Government could do no further damage to the economy and then we find it has entered into an agreement with the IMF and the EU at an unsustainable rate of interest. It shows that for people leaving the House to enter into this type of negotiation is a very bad idea. The Government was beaten before it started. It was playing above its league in these negotiations. It is an extraordinary outcome and one which I believe those on the Government side of the House-----