Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The legislation is most comprehensive. There must be some latitude for the Department and the Minister. No matter what Minister is in office, he or she can only introduce regulation that is in keeping with the terms of the legislation and the purpose of the legislation is to help to reduce the number of people smoking and also to remove all the marketing ploys that are available to the tobacco industry. One of the points about regulation is that when a problem arises, it allows the Minister to introduce regulation, provided it comes within the terms of the legislation, to make it more difficult for tobacco companies to avoid compliance. The Minister must have some room for manoeuvre in dealing with the issues, which change on a weekly and monthly basis in the industry in question. It is important that the Minister has discretion, regardless of who is in office.