Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to join with the sentiments of my colleague, Senator Fitzpatrick, on the anniversary of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings. These were a series of explosions which killed, maimed and ruined many lives and created intergenerational trauma which we are still seeing today. A total of 34 innocent lives, including a full-term unborn child, were taken that day. It was probably one of the bloodiest days of our Troubles and, as my colleague said, we still do not really know the truth of what happened that day and there are still so many unanswered questions. I join with the calls for more investigation into these bombings.

I came here today to discuss and commend the Government's plan to increase the legal age of purchasing tobacco from 18 years of age to 21. We know that from December, the sale of vapes to under-18s has been illegal and, separately, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, is bringing in legislation to ban flavours, colours, colourful advertising and point-of-sale promotions. There is also ban on disposable vapes.

According to the National Cancer Registry, there are more than 200,000 survivors of cancer in Ireland. Smoking rates in Ireland remain, amazingly, at 18% for the past three years. Tobacco remains the single biggest contributor to both preventable diseases in Ireland and the National Cancer Registry in Ireland predicts that by 2035, more than 4,600 cases of cancer will be attributed to smoking. Half of smokers have, in fairness, tried to quit smoking with 23% of them being unsuccessful. We know that lung cancer, for example, which has a direct link to smoking, probably claims the most lives when it comes to cancer. People are very unaware of the symptoms of lung cancer - difficulty breathing, a cough that does not go away, repeated chest infections, wheezing, a hoarse voice, coughing up phlegm and so many symptoms that are very important for us all to be aware of.

We need to ensure that we have early diagnosis. I am calling on the Government to introduce a national lung cancer screening programme, similar to BreastCheck and cervical screening, to help save lives. It is very important that we have lung cancer diagnosis at an early stage. There are so many drugs available and I would very much encourage the Government to introduce a national lung cancer screening programme.