John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will mention some technical issues that I hope we will have the chance to address and perhaps direct some oversight on during the Irish Presidency. There is a data protection directive coming from Europe and I will attend discussions in Brussels next week about possible research implications. I will mark the card as there are serious concerns it could affect certain types of cancer research which involve accessing stored tumour samples and records of often long-dead patients. This research could provide clues and insights into improved treatments for living and future patients but it could become difficult or impossible if the directive is not substantially amended. One of the problems is that consent cannot be gained from people who are deceased to use what may be very valuable research specimens. I ask that this be put on the agenda at the highest levels.

There was almost a fiasco ten years ago with a clinical trials directive, which nearly killed all non-drug company funded clinical trials in Europe. If it had been a regulation rather than a directive, such research would have been eliminated; as it was a directive, there was considerable latitude in implementing or ignoring it. A regulation will come out in the next year or two and it is important that the Government and the Minister for Health exercise some oversight and alert those in Europe.

The next issue is also health-related. I would like the Government to consider during its Presidency collaborating with an initiative that I am rolling out this week. It is a call to stamp out all commerce in tobacco within the EU by a fixed and defined future date, either 2025 or 2030. The basis for this is obvious as people should not be allowed to do commerce in a cancer-causing addictive toxin. It is just wrong. We understand there would be a need for divesting of pension plans, retooling factories and reformatting of agriculture. Addicts would also have to be given great warnings. This is not something to be done immediately or a ban on smoking. Although it does not make smoking illegal, it would make it illegal to do commerce for profit in tobacco.

Will the Minister of State indicate if sufficient attention is being paid to the circumstances of the recent unusual resignation of Commissioner Dalli, who was responsible for health matters? He was known to be campaigning on an anti-tobacco initiative but found himself under a cloud of accusations that he was attempting to be improperly influenced. He denies this and there is considerable speculation that dirty tricks from elements within the tobacco industry are involved. Is attention being paid to the issue in the corridors of power? It could be relevant in the next six months during our Presidency.