James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

You are just better informed. I thank the Minister of State for her support and I mention again the tobacco unit in the Department led by Dr. Fenton Howell. I also remember Ms Dilly O'Brien and Ms Claire Gordon.

It is great to have such support and I thank all Senators who offered such support from the various parties. It is much appreciated and it is great when the House can unify on a public health measure like this because it is so important. I will read a note I made for myself at the end. I am delighted that Senator McFadden mentioned Dr. Des Cox as I spoke to him and I was going to mention that as a paediatrician, he has alluded to the damage done by second-hand smoke to young lungs and children in general. The Minister of State is correct. I do not have the latest figures but I have research published in 2013 indicating the smoking ban resulted in a reduction in ill-health amounting to an immediate 13% decrease in all-cause mortality, a 26% reduction in ischemic heart disease, a 32% reduction in stroke and a 38% reduction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Public support for this is huge and since this has come to the fore I have met many people who have been positive in their support of it. The website thejournal.iedid a poll of 14,000 people and 9,000 were in favour of this measure. It is important to reiterate Senator Dolan's comments in that we are not anti-smoker but we are anti-smoking. We are here to support smokers in giving up the habit because we know the damage that will be done to them. They do too. I know of no smoker, even including the executives in tobacco companies, who wishes his or her child to be a smoker. In itself that speaks volumes.

The World Health Organization has the MPOWER document. It covers: monitoring tobacco use and prevention, as done by the Department; protecting people from smoking; offering help to quit, and there have been major advances in that regard with making nicotine replacement therapy and other medication available to help people quit; and warning about dangers.

Although the debate has done much, if it did nothing else it would educate and inform young people about the dangers of smoking. The MPOWER document also takes in enforcement of bans, and we have been very successful with that. There are challenges and people are continuously testing the boundaries with court cases. I am always very concerned by who is funding those cases. Forest Ireland on a television show a few years ago denied being funded by the tobacco companies but later admitted to being funded by Forest UK, which is funded by the tobacco companies. It is an industry that has lied over the years, denying the addictive nature of this habit and the product in Senate hearings.

I say the following to people with concerns about small businesses. This measure would not prevent businesses from providing an outdoor area in which people can smoke but it should not be the same area allocated for dining. It should never be the case of deciding between jobs and health or well-being. We should not have to decide between livelihoods and lives. It is what we are talking about. Damage done early in life can haunt one later, which is terrible. As the Minister of State has said, very few of us have not been affected by that damage. Deputy Marc MacSharry has spoken of his uncles and aunts who were afflicted by lung cancer caused by smoking.

Senator Buttimer's point is also well made. I have smoked but if we ask any smoker why he or she started - it would make people sick the first time - the reason is because it looked cool. Our challenge is to make it uncool to smoke. We must make it look foolish to smoke and we must help young people understand that. There is much more to do and I know we can do it. We must get to the point where none of our children smokes and there is a tobacco-free society. This motion is another step along the road to achieving that goal. I thank Senators for their support.