Keith Swanick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Everyone is aware that, according to the WHO, half of all users of tobacco will die from it. The tobacco industry is no friend to anyone and most definitely not to the people who are, unfortunately, addicted to the product. The Senators will recall that I have been campaigning for some time on the incredible situation whereby the State held investments in some of these tobacco companies through the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF. Thankfully, through exposing this in the Seanad and with support from all sides of the House and from the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, changes were made last December that saw the NTMA divest itself of all tobacco investments.

Through research and through information supplied to me I recently uncovered that other State and semi-State agencies are still investing money in the tobacco industry. These are under the remit of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Charlie Flanagan, to whom I wrote last week. His predecessor, Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald, did not act on my correspondence on this though I wrote to her on a number of occasions over the past few months.

The first organisation in question is the Charities Regulatory Authority that administers the charity investment fund on behalf of 410 charities. They have confirmed to me that the value of this fund was approximately €38 million. They have also confirmed under questioning from me that they have invested part of this in the tobacco industry. It raises the question as to whether these 410 charities know that they are investing in the tobacco industry. Are any of these charities related to health? I have asked the Charities Regulator if they have informed the charities how they are investing money on their behalf. I await a response.

The second organisation in question is the Courts Service. It invests huge sums of money, approximately €1.675 billion, on behalf of wards of court and children under 18 who have received significant rewards. I wrote to the CEO of the Courts Service three weeks ago and have had no response to date. I have written to the chairperson of the investment committee of the Courts Service, Justice Peter Kelly, to point out that it is unconscionable that money for wards of court and money awarded to children, often arising from serious medical or health issues, be invested to prop up the balance sheets of global tobacco giants.

This is an absolute joke. I propose to move a motion in this House in the near future and I hope that it would have unanimous support. I ask the Senators to send a strong unanimous message supporting motion 22 on the motion paper today and I formally propose that this be taken before No. 1 on the Order of Business.