Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Smoking is a scourge that has been with us for generations. It benefits no one. It certainly does not benefit the smokers themselves, their families or the people around them. It does not benefit our health service. In fact, the only potential beneficiaries of smoking are the industry and the Exchequer. Part of the problem is that our approach to dealing with the problem of smoking has always been to tax it out of existence and to penalise people who are addicted to smoking. We know that such penalisation disproportionately affects certain sectors of society who smoke more heavily than others. The time has now come for a different approach. I was pleased to learn today of the law that has been passed in New Zealand to look at smoking from a different perspective. It is trying to create a generation of non-smokers, not by banning it, because we know that prohibition can just drive smoking underground and create a black market, but instead to progressively and over time create a generation of people to whom cigarettes will never be available legally. They are starting with 14-year-olds. Obviously, it is illegal for current 14-year-olds to buy cigarettes in this jurisdiction but as time goes on, that age will move up each year. People who are currently in their mid-teens will never have the opportunity to legally buy cigarettes in New Zealand. This does not mean that cigarettes are illegal. It does not mean cigarettes are not available for sale. It does not mean that they cannot smoke cigarettes. However, they cannot buy them in legal establishments in New Zealand. That represents an innovative approach to how we can tackle smoking. It is something we would do well to have regard to in this country. I would like to ask the Leader to organise a debate on this subject, either now or in the new year.

Finally, I also agree with calls for a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing next year. Yesterday, a number of parliamentarians sent letters to members of the Government who might be in a position to accept invitations asking them to publicly decline those invitations. I think that is going to happen. I welcome that if it is to happen, but I think we should be forceful on this issue.