Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit le haghaidh an díospóireacht seo. Mar a deirtear i nGaeilge, "is fearr an tsláinte ná na táinte". The equivalent English-language phrase is "your health is your wealth". I think that is a good guiding ethos as we make our way through this debate and, I hope, as we take action on foot of it. I commend Senator Reilly on bringing this motion before the House. I do not doubt his commitment to this issue and his passion for the health and well-being of people across the State. I will not repeat what he said, other than to agree that there should be a particular focus on the clear and acute damage that is caused by smoking. As a society, as communities and as families, we are all too aware of the harm caused by smoking and by second-hand smoke.

Sinn Féin welcomes this motion and will support it today. It has been acknowledged that this jurisdiction was the first place in the world to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces and in workplaces. We should be very proud of the lead we took in protecting non-smokers, including children, from second-hand smoke. As a society, we sent a message that smoking is not something we wish for our citizens to be involved in. This motion is a timely reminder that we should be still alert to that issue and should advance that ethos. When my colleague, Michelle O'Neill, served as Minister of Health in the North, she led on a piece of work that involved banning smoking in cars when children are present.

My colleague in the European Parliament, Lynn Boylan, is fighting at EU level to ensure the complete separation of the tobacco industry and EU tobacco regulation. In particular, she has been working hard to close a loophole in the EU tobacco products directive. While I do not intend to get into the major detail of the loophole, I will say that as it stands, it allows solution providers to the illicit tobacco industry to bypass independence criteria by means of subcontracting. I do not need to tell the Minister of State that this is very dangerous. The problem and the solution need to be completely separate. The tobacco industry should have no influence when an effective tracking and tracing system is being put in place. I commend Lynn Boylan MEP on her initiative.

As the Minister of State can see, Sinn Féin is serious about this issue. I acknowledge that all of my colleagues from other parties are serious about it too. We are happy to support this motion as another step towards a healthier Ireland. The Government's tobacco-free Ireland policy was launched in October 2013. It set as a target for Ireland that we would have a smoking prevalence rate of less than 5% by 2025. The effect of this would be to make the State a tobacco-free society. Will the Minister of State update the House on the progress being made by the Government in respect of this target? Does she envisage the proposed extension of the smoking ban will help us to achieve the target?

I would like to discuss the detail of this proposal. It is important to start a discussion now on how this ban will work in reality. For example, we need to reflect on what are considered to be the boundaries that denote what is considered to be "outdoors". How do we imagine that places like parks and other outdoor recreational areas will be monitored? Will they be covered by this measure? Clearly, we all want this motion to be passed. The more solid proposals we can bring to the Minister from this House, the quicker and more efficiently this motion can be brought towards legislation.

The important issues faced by small business owners in this regard also deserve to be considered. Will the owner of a small business like a restaurant or a café that has an outdoor area where food is consumed have to separate off an additional smoking area? How will this be financed? Will small businesses receive support to make such changes? While I do not believe the costs possibly associated with this proposal should trump the public health benefits of banning smoking outdoors, I suggest it would be wise to consider supporting small and medium sized enterprises, just as we are doing under the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill, so that such enterprises receive clear instructions, guidance and support with regard to the implementation of this change when legislation is ultimately in place, as we hope it will be. Small business owners do not deserve to be subjected to second-hand smoke in their own businesses. They cannot expect to carry the burdens of our decisions alone. I ask the Minister of State to be mindful of that point. I know she is and she will be as we move forward.

I am happy to speak in support of this motion on behalf of my party. We gladly welcome any steps that help to bring about a healthier, tobacco-free Ireland. Reducing the harm caused by second-hand smoke is vital in that regard. Our job here is to work out the details, to be innovative and to propose workable solutions to this and other issues. As colleagues have said, we have been innovative and creative and we have taken a lead. This is another opportunity to do that as we move forward. Along with my party colleagues, I look forward to seeing the legislation, in the form of statutory instruments, that will be introduced by the Minister to give effect to this motion. We will work proactively with all of our colleagues and with the Government to ensure the finer details of this proposal are worked out for the betterment of all citizens.