Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I left the House during the Minister's opening contribution to meet approximately 40 students from a school in the area in which I live. I was delighted to have the opportunity to quote the Minister and Senator Mary White has just spoken about there being 5,000 deaths. We were always told tobacco was addictive and knew this from a very early age. People say they did not realise it was addictive, but I certainly knew it was. I wanted to get on the rugby team and knew when I was 13 or 14 years of age that if I smoked, I was unlikely to get on it. The vast majority of youngsters who smoke claim they do not know how bad it is and we must do something to overcome this. However, I have a problem with automatically increasing the price because each time we do so, we encourage smuggling. Given that there is so much smuggling of illegal cigarettes, we need to find a better way.

If we are really serious about dissuading people from smoking, should we ban smoking in schools and educational establishments, as has been done in Denmark? That would include teachers and students. The idea is not to smoke in front of students. It would be worthwhile considering this suggestion. Denmark also significantly increased fines for breaking the smoking law and selling tobacco to youths under 18 years of age. I am not sure what the situation here is and whether there are serious fines in that regard. In Denmark, in the case of a first offence, the fine is approximately €700; in the case of a second offence, it is €1,400 and in the case of a third offence, it is €2,100. Perhaps we should also significantly increase fines imposed for this offence.

Last year Senator John Crown proposed banning smoking in cars carrying children, but should we not ban smoking in cars entirely? In certain countries it has been found that smoking can be a contributory factor in car accidents. To this extent, smoking in cars is now banned in Italy, as it has been found that if a smoker drops a cigarette or throws a cigarette out a window and it blows back in and he or she starts to look for it in the car, it can cause an accident and even result in death. There are fines and penalty points for someone found smoking in his or her car. As we have banned the use of mobile phones in cars as they are a distraction, should we not consider banning smoking cigarettes also? That is a very important issue to be considered, especially when considered with the harmful effects on children. The issue should be considered as we are discussing how to reduce the harmfulness of smoking.

I refer to politics and tobacco lobbyists. On a philosophical level, should we look at the relationship between alcohol and tobacco and politics? We know about the link with sports, which is not often mentioned. In Australia the New South Wales state parliament recently passed legislation banning donations to political parties from the alcohol, gaming and tobacco industries. I am not sure if any money is given to political parties here by alcohol or tobacco companies, but we need to make things clear. Could we, as politicians, send a strong message by formally breaking the link between the tobacco industry and the lobbyists and the political system?

There are things we could do. I know what the Minister is attempting to do, but I support Senator John Crown whom I regard as an expert in this area. I am aware of his frustration that we are doing away with minimum pricing because we are being forced to do so by the European Court of Justice's ruling, but there must be steps we could take. I have never seen three-for-two, happy hour or buy-one-get-one free tobacco promotions, as there would not be the margin to do it. However, there must be other things we could do. We have a strong message to send. The Minister's heart is in the right place and we will support him in any way we can.