Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for bringing forward this legislation and all the staff in the Department of Health and in the Office of the Attorney General for their work in this area. It is important that we have legislation because the likelihood is that there will be some challenge and we must ensure all the t's are crossed and the i's dotted. A great deal of work has gone into this Bill.

I wish to pay tribute to all the organisations that have lobbied for change down through the years. It is a good day for them in that their viewpoint has been heard by the Minister and the Government. I thank the medical profession, including the Minister, who have been to the fore in highlighting the number of deaths that have been caused by smoking, which amounts to more than 5,000 a year. I hope in the next few years we will see a reduction in that number as a result not only of this Bill, but the changes introduced by the leader of the Fianna Fáil Party when he was the Minister for Health. That resulted in substantial changes in the attitudes to smoking. I thank my colleagues on the Joint Committee of Health and Children for giving an opportunity to all the parties involved in this area to have their points heard and for the issues they raised to be taken on board. I again thank the Minister for his work in this area.