PUBLIC HEALTH (TOBACCO) (AMENDMENT) BILL 2011 [SEANAD]: SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT STAGES

15th July 2011 Second Stage Debate – Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2011

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Catherine Murphy I propose to share time with Deputy Mick Wallace. This Bill is welcome. Anyone who has seen a member of the family suffer and die from lung cancer will know that seeing someone trying to survive on an eggcup of air in the lungs is enough to put one off smoking for life. Professor Clancy in St. James’s Hospital articulates in graphic detail the job he has in dealing with people with lung cancer. The Bill is a step in the right direction and the photographic warnings are quite graphic. The evidence appears to be that they work. They must be targeted at the group most likely to commence smoking. I started smoking when I was a teenager and into my early 20s. It was so difficult to give up that I promised myself I would never do it myself again. When people embark upon it, they do not realise how addictive it is. The younger age group must be targeted. This can be done with photographic warnings and with health promotion and prevention campaigns.

This is considered international best practice and the World Health Organisation convention on tobacco control recommends full-colour pictures are included on the packaging and the label. This Bill brings Ireland into line with the international consensus on a critical public health issue. Evidence from countries that have introduced the warnings show a greater impact from graphics than from text alone. Text had an impact when it was first introduced but people have stopped noticing it . We can learn the lesson that images on packages must change over time so that they continue to have an impact. This is a cheap and effective strategy in reducing tobacco consumption and it saves lives. It makes cigarette smoking less attractive to those who are most likely to take up smoking and to smokers. The imagery has a nagging effect that will be helpful. The Eurobarometer survey showed that nearly 50% of smokers in Belgium between the ages of 15 and 17 years thought pictorial images on the packaging made smoking less attractive.

Smoking is the largest cause of preventable death and disease in Ireland, killing half of all lifetime users. It should be the single highest priority in health promotion policy. It is shocking to think that 30% of people in Ireland smoke. I did not think it was that high and I thought it had dropped considerably. I remember sitting in council chambers with some of the people who are Members of the Dáil. I remember Deputy Bernard Durkan with his pipe and Deputy Stagg smoking one cigarette after another. That was acceptable practice in the council chamber.

Finian McGrath The good old days.

Catherine Murphy We sat in a fog and it was outrageous.

Finian McGrath Bring it back.

Catherine Murphy Now, it would be completely frowned upon.

Finian McGrath They would be shot at dawn.

Catherine Murphy There were also other smokers. Going to other countries, one arrives at the airport and sees people smoking, which is shocking when one is used to the smoking ban here. I do not think it has modified the behaviour of one of my constituency colleagues but at least this takes place outside.

Some 79% of smokers want to quit, which suggests the shock campaigns will be effective. I would like to see the campaigns extended to television. This would work very well in respect of health promotion. The impact of the staining of people’s skin will have an impact on those who are smoking because they think it will change their weight. It costs the State an estimated €1 billion every year to provide services for smokers. Putting €1 billion towards job creation would make a phenomenal difference. We must consider what we can spend that money on as well as extending the life of people who will not smoke. We will not tackle cancer if we do not tackle smoking. On Newstalk this morning, I heard that over half of the waste on the streets is cigarette butts. One cannot but notice it and it is unsightly and costs money to clean up. It may be a small thing but it is very unattractive. The former Minister of State, Mary Wallace, said in 2009 that if we do not make progress reducing the impact of tobacco in the next ten years, it is estimated that the cost to our health service will be in excess of €23 billion. This would pay for running the health services for two years. The argument is profound when one considers these figures.

I would like to see cigarette companies being obliged to put the telephone number of the National Smokers’ Quitline on the packets. That amendment would be useful because people need assistance. Anyone who has given up smoking cigarettes will give themselves 150 reasons they should not give up. We need to give people a reason and the means to give up cigarettes.

The embargo on public service recruitment to the Garda Síochána and the Customs and Excise service is counter-productive in respect of cigarette smuggling. There are all sorts of concoctions of dangerous content beyond tobacco. We must make an all-out assault in dealing with that because not only are we losing revenue for the State, but the least well-off communities will be targeted for selling those cigarettes. Those black market activities are ongoing and we must tackle that problem. The campaign for increasing the cost of cigarettes was an important factor in discouraging people from starting to smoke and encouraging others to give up, but it is being seriously interfered with by virtue of the fact that we have a thriving black economy in the area of illegal cigarette selling. I would like that specific area to be targeted. If the customs service want the embargo to be lifted for those areas, there is an unanswerable case for doing that because there are returns in terms of money going back to the Exchequer but also health benefits.

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Posted by admin on July 15, 2011. Filed under Dáil Debates,Healthcare,In the Dáil. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry