David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Fine. I would like to say that it is disgraceful, corrupt and criminal that these people deliberately target young people - the vulnerable - but it is not just young people. They go out Africa and to South America - they go to people who have no defences. These are people with their headquarters in the United States and in Europe and they must be confronted.

I am appalled by the court's ruling, which I believe is disgraceful, wrong and, in some measure - possibly even morally, if not in any other sense - corrupt.

Our Constitution puts as the primary plank the public good. This is probably unconstitutional. How in the name of God can it be for the public good that we allow this competitive selling of cigarettes? Is there a mechanism whereby one can shove up the tax if they dare to lower the price? We should shove the tax up immediately by regulation. Perhaps the Minister could talk to the Minister for Finance to see if that can be done. Politically, it may be less than popular. The Minister said he had completed the first step in complying with the court ruling. To hell with them. They have not been our friends either in bankrupting this country or, now, in forcing ill-health upon our citizens. Removing the legal basis for the fixing of a minimum price is a yielding of sovereignty.

I believe much of this stuff is just cosmetic. For example, the Minister talks about the prohibition of the promotion and sale of tobacco products at a reduced price, free of charge with the purchase of another tobacco product or under three-for-two arrangements. Can the Minister show me one shop in the entire country that has ever done this? I asked my colleague, Senator Quinn, whether he had ever come across this and the answer was "No". This is just a bit of cosmetic stuff to say that we are barricading this, that or the other. It is rubbish. This is a nonsense. It means nothing. The Minister referred to "happy hour"-type promotions.