Apologies were received from Deputies Deirdre Clune and Alan Shatter.

3.Minutes of previous meeting:

The minutes of the meeting held on 2 April 1998 were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

4.Interim Report on Conference on Communications Technology in the Community, in Dublin Castle on 6 March 1998:

The Chairman informed members that an Interim Report on this Conference had been circulated to members and when the Conference papers are made available, a final Report will be laid before the Committee for consideration.

5.Proposed Legislation on Food Safety:

The Chairman welcomed Dr. Tom Moffatt T.D.,Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Mr. Tom Mooney, Assistant Secretary, Mr. Martin Higgins, Principal Officer and Mr. Paul Cantwell, Private Secretary to the Minister of State to the meeting.

The Minister made a presentation to the Committee on the broad outline of the proposed legislation which was followed by a question and answer session.

6.Any other Business:

The Chairman stated that on foot a letter sent to Irish MEP’s in relation to the Draft Recommendation to ban advertising of tobacco products, replies had been received from Ms. Mary Banotti MEP, Mr. Pat Cox MEP, Mr. Brian Crowley MEP, Ms. Patricia McKenna MEP, Mr. John Cushnahan MEP and Mr. Pat The Cope Gallagher MEP. Copies of the responses received were circulated at the meeting.

The Chairman informed the members that contact had been made with the Department in relation to the visit to Tallaght Hospital and that Thursday, 7 May 1998 had been suggested as a suitable date. It was agreed that if that date proved feasible, arrangements would be made for as many members who were available to visit the hospital.

7.Next Meeting:

The Committee agreed to hold its next meeting on Thursday, 30 April at 9.30 a.m. and to invite the Secretary General of the Department of Health and Children or the relevant officials to discuss the Health Promotion programme administered by the Department, in particular the “No Smoking Campaign” and the implementation of smoking regulations.

The meeting adjourned at 1.10 p.m.

AN COMHCHOISTE UM SHLÁINTE AGUS LEANAÍ

JOINT COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND CHILDREN

Thursday, 30 April 1998

1.A meeting of the Joint Committee took place in Room G2, Kildare House at 9.30 a.m.

2.Attendance:

Members Present:

Deputies Batt O’Keeffe (in the Chair), Michael Ahern, Paul Bradford, Paul Connaughton, John Dennehy, John Gormley and Cecilia Keaveney

Senators Camillus Glynn and Pat Moylan.

Apologies were received from Deputy Deirdre Clune and Senator Pat Gallagher.

3.Minutes of previous meeting:

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 April 1998 were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

4.In private session.

5.Presentation on Health Promotion and the Implementation of Smoking Regulations.

The Committee met with Mr.Chris Fitzgerald, Mr Martin Higgins and Mr. Tom Power, Officials in the Department of Health and Children.

Mr. Fitzgerald gave a presentation on the Health Promotion initiatives in relation to smoking. Mr. Higgins then gave a short presentation on the various regulations in place governing such issues as advertising, sponsorship, health warnings and the restrictions on the consumption of tobacco in specified areas.

The Chairman had to absent himself from the meeting at 9.58 a.m. In his absence and that of Vice Chairman, Deputy Paul Bradford was nominated by the Chairman to take the Chair.

The presentations were followed by a questions and answer session.

6.Correspondence:

The Chairman referred members to the reply received from Ms. Bernie Malone, MEP in relation to the Draft Recommendation to ban advertising of tobacco products and asked if Members wished to have a discussion on the replies received to date. The members indicated that in view of the responses received to date that no discussion was required at this time.

7.Any other Business:

The Committee agreed to defer the visit to Tallaght Hospital until Tuesday 19 May, at 3.00 p.m.

8.Next Meeting:

The Committee agreed to hold its next meeting on Thursday, 14 May at 9.30 a.m. and to invite two representatives of the group involved in the proceedings against the Tobacco Industry to appear at this meeting to hear their views on Health Promotion in particular the “No Smoking Campaign” and smoking regulations.

The Committee also agreed to invite representatives of ASH Ireland to attend this meeting to hear their views on this matter.

The meeting adjourned at 10.45 a.m.

AN COMHCHOISTE UM SHLÁINTE AGUS LEANAÍ

JOINT COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND CHILDREN

Thursday, 14 May 1998

PUBLIC SESSION

1.A meeting of the Joint Committee took place in Room G2, Kildare House at 9.30 a.m.

2.Attendance:

Members Present:

Deputies Batt O’Keeffe (in the Chair), Michael Ahern, Paul Bradford, Deirdre Clune, Paul Connaughton, Beverley Cooper-Flynn, John Dennehy, Cecilia Keaveney, Brendan Kenneally, Dan Neville, Gerard Reynolds, Dick Roche, Seán Ryan, Alan Shatter, Róisín Shortall and G.V. Wright.

Senators Camillus Glynn, Mary Jackman and Pat Moylan.

3.Minutes of previous meeting:

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 April 1998 were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

4.Presentation on Health Promotion - “No Smoking Campaigns” and the Implementation of Smoking Regulations:

ASH Ireland was represented by Dr. Luke Clancy, Chairman and Ms Valerie Coghlan, Administrator.

The Committee also met with Ms. Susan Riley and Ms. Ann Moloney and the Committee agreed that they should be accompanied by their legal adviser, Mr. Peter McDonnell, Solicitor.

The Chairman stated that the witnesses appearing had been invited to make presentations to the Committee on Health Promotion in particular the “No Smoking Campaigns” and the implementation of smoking regulations.

He went on to advise that while the Members of the Committee had absolute privilege at the meeting, that this same privilege did not apply to non Members. He stated that he would not permit any individuals or companies to be mentioned by name or any specific court proceedings to be referred to during the course of the meeting.

The Presentation on behalf of ASH Ireland was made by Dr. Luke Clancy, Chairman. In his presentation, Dr. Clancy set out the main objectives of ASH Ireland and laid particular emphasis on the effects of Passive Smoking in the home and workplace and on the health effects of smoking on children. He stated that the health promotion message was not sufficient on its own and that action was also required on a number of other fronts namely;

- Stringent enforcement of legislation.

- Ban on Advertising.

- Education which focused primarily on children.

- Pricing Strategy.

Ms. Susan Riley and Ms. Ann Moloney then made their presentations to the Committee. In their presentations they spoke about their personal experiences of smoking and the very serious health problems which they have suffered over the years.

When the presentations had concluded, the Chairman informed Members that in view of the specific nature of the presentations made by Ms. Riley and Ms. Moloney, that he wished to draw Members attention to the Sub Judice rule under the Standing Orders and he proceeded to read the text of Standing Order 56 of Dáil Éireann into the record.

He then suggested to Members that they confine their questions to health promotion and the general smoking issue.

There then followed a question and answer session.

During the course of the discussion, the vote in the European Parliament the previous day, in favour of the Draft Recommendation which will phase out and ban the advertising of tobacco products was welcomed.

The Chairman on behalf of the Committee requested Deputy Beverley Cooper-Flynn to convey to her father, EU Commissioner Pádraig Flynn, the Committee’s commendation on the courageous position that he had taken in this matter.

Dr. Clancy also requested on behalf of ASH Ireland to add his congratulations to the Commissioner and stated that he had taken a unique stand and that Ash Ireland was proud of his actions.

In relation to proceedings against the tobacco companies, the Chairman stated that an advisory group had been established in November 1997 to report to the Minister for Health and Children on the issue of the overall public health interest. When this Report was made available, the Minister would be liaising with the Attorney General on the State’s options in this regard and the most appropriate strategy to be adopted.

At the conclusion of the question and answer session, the Chairman thanked those who had appeared, particularly Ms. Riley and Ms. Moloney who had shared the trauma of their personal experiences with the Committee and hoped that their health would improve.

5.Correspondence:

The Chairman noted that a copy of a letter received from Mr. Pat The Cope Gallagher MEP was circulated with the Agenda for this meeting.

6.Any other Business:

The Chairman informed the Members that as the Houses were not sitting during the week of the 18 May, due to the Referenda that it was necessary to re-schedule the visit Tallaght Hospital once again and that it was now proposed that this visit take place on Thursday, 4 June at 11.00 a.m. The Committee agreed to this new date.

The Committee also agreed that the Conference on “Breaking the Taboos - Talking about Sex” to be held in Donegal at the end of June to be placed as an item on the Agenda for the next meeting.

Next Meeting:

The Committee agreed to meet in Private Session to review its Work Programme and Powers and to also discuss Committee Rapporteurs. It was agreed that this meeting be held on Thursday, 28 May at 9.30 a.m.

The meeting adjourned at 11.20 a.m.

AN COMHCHOISTE UM SHLÁINTE AGUS LEANAÍ

JOINT COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND CHILDREN

Thursday, 28 May 1998

The meeting was held in private session.

AN COMHCHOISTE UM SHLÁINTE AGUS LEANAÍ

JOINT COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND CHILDREN

Thursday, 9 July 1998

1.A meeting of the Joint Committee took place in Room G2, Kildare House at 11.30 a.m.

2.Attendance:

Members Present:

Senators Pat Gallagher, Camillus Glynn, Mary Jackman, Pat Moylan and Shane Ross.

Apologies were received from Deputy Róisín Shortall and Senator Dermot Fitzpatrick.

3.Minutes of previous meeting:

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 May 1998 were agreed and signed by the Chairman. The Committee agreed to go into Private Session to consider the next two items on the Agenda.

4/6.In private session.

7.Presentation on Health Promotion - “No Smoking Campaigns” and the Implementation of Smoking Regulations:

Gallaher (Dublin) Limited and Gallaher Group PLC were represented by Mr. Adrian Goodrich, Managing Director of Gallaher (Dublin) Limited and/Mr lan Birks, Head of Corporate Affairs, Gallaher Group PLC.

Mr Goodrich and Mr. Birks made a short presentation to the Committee. After the presentations there then followed by a question and answer session. Following this the Chairman expressed his thanks to Mr. Goodrich and Mr. Birks for appearing before the Committee.

8.Any Other Business:

The Committee then discussed the replies received to the invitations issued to attend this meeting from the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers Advisory Committee, TDL Distributors, John Player & Sons enclosing their Submission and letter from P. J. Carroll & Co. Ltd. and their Submission to the Committee which was received on the 8 July.

While the Committee expressed dissatisfaction with the submissions received, the Committee agreed to invite representatives of John Player & Sons and P. J. Carroll & Co. Ltd. to appear again before the Committee during the first week in October.

The Committee agreed to place the Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Compellability, Privileges and Immunities of Witnesses) Act, 1997 as an item on the Agenda for its next meeting.

9.Next Meeting:

The Committee agreed to meet on Wednesday, 15 July at 2.30 p.m. and to invite representatives of the Adopted Peoples Association to attend this meeting.

The Committee agreed that it would not hold any further meetings until the week commencing 14 September 1998.

The meeting adjourned at 2.00 p.m.

AN COMHCHOISTE UM SHLÁINTE AGUS LEANAÍ

JOINT COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND CHILDREN

Thursday, 15 July 1998

PUBLIC SESSION

1.A meeting of the Joint Committee took place in Room G5, Kildare House at 2.30 p.m.

2.Attendance:

Members Present:

Apologies were received from Deputies Brendan Kenneally, Alan Shatter and Senator Pat Gallagher.

3.Minutes of previous meeting:

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 1998 were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

4.Correspondence:

The Chairman noted the following items of correspondence which were circulated at the beginning of the meeting;

(1)Letter dated 24 June from Mr. Dick Roche T.D., Chairman of the All Party Oireachtas Committee on the Strategic Management Initiative (SMI).

(2)Letter dated 8 July from Deputy Deirdre Clune in relation to Personal Assistants for People with Disabilities.

(3)Letters dated June 1998 to the Ceann Comhairle and the Cathaoirleach in relation to the European Health Forum to be held in Austria from 30 Sept to 2 October 1998.

In relation to the European Health Forum, the Committee agreed to place attendance at this Conference as an item on the Agenda for its next meeting. The Committee also agreed that if the Committee’s Travel Allocation would be exceeded if a delegation were to attend, that the Chairman should write to the Chairman of the Working Group of Chairmen, requesting additional funding in advance of the next Committee meeting.

5.Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Compellability, Privileges and Immunities of Witnesses) Act, 1997:

The Chairman stated that copies of the Act had been circulated to Members with the Agenda for this meeting and that the Motions commencing the Act were passed in Dáil and Seanad Éireann on 2 July 1998.

He pointed out that the Joint Committee on Health and Children does not have the Power to send for persons, papers and records under the Standing Orders and that, at present, this power only applies to the Public Accounts Committee and the Joint Committee on Consolidated Bills.

He went on to say that guidelines were presently being prepared by the Office in relation to the operation of the Act and that it is hoped that that these guidelines should be made available shortly. The Committee agreed to defers further consideration of this matter until after these guidelines were made available.

As the Chairman was urgently called away and in the absence of the Vice-Chairman, he sought nominations for an Acting Chairperson and on the proposal of Deputy Keaveney, Deputy Michael Ahern was unanimously elected Acting Chairman for the remainder of the meeting.

6.Presentation by Representatives of the Adopted Peoples Association:

The Adopted Peoples Association was represented by Mr. Kevin Cooney, Information Officer, Mr. Paul Bolger, Information Officer and Ms. Patricia Murray, Secretary.

Ms. Patricia Murray made a short presentation on behalf of the Association. After the presentation, there then followed a question and answer session between the Members and the witnesses.

7.Next Meeting:

The Committee agreed to invite officials from the Department of Education and Science to discuss Health Promotion in the schools to attend its next meeting and agreed to adjourn Sine die

The meeting adjourned at 3.55 p.m.

Joint Committee on Health and Children

Proceedings of the Joint Committee

Tuesday, 22 September 1998

1In Public

The Joint Committee met at 11.10 a.m. in Room G2, Kildare House.

2.Attendance

The following Members were present:-

Deputies Batt O’Keeffe (in the Chair), Beverley Cooper-Flynn, John Dennehy, John Gormley, Cecilia Keaveney, Dan Neville, and G. V. Wright and Senators Dermot Fitzpatrick, Camillus Glynn, and Pat Moylan.

3.Minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved and signed.

Matters arising:

The Committee paid tribute to Ms. Therese O’Reilly, former Clerk to the Committee who had transferred to a Government Department.

4.Correspondence

The Chairman referred to a letter received from the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers’ Advisory Committee. It was agreed that ITMAC, as requested, would not be invited to appear before the Committee.

5.Reports on Conferences attended

Reports on conferences held in Donegal and Dublin Castle were noted. A report on a conference attended in Geneva would be brought forward at the next meeting.

6.Health Promotion in Schools

The Chairman welcomed Mr. Tony Gorman, Assistant Chief Inspector, Mr. Prionsias Ó Dughaill, Inspector and Ms. Ruby Morrow, Senior Psychologist, Department of Education and Science.

Mr. Gorman was invited to address the Committee and he circulated a copy of his statement.

There followed a question and answer session on the Department’s policy and action plan in relation to health promotion in schools.

The Chairman, on behalf of the Committee, thanked Mr. Gorman and his colleagues for attending.

7.Any other business

(i)It was confirmed that two tobacco manufacturers would attend the next meeting on 8 October.

(ii)E.U. Commissioner Pádraig Flynn had accepted an invitation to meet the Committee on Friday, 30 October.

It was agreed to hold a joint session with the Joint Committee on European Affairs.

8.Adjournment

There being no further business the Committee adjourned at 12.55 p.m.

Paul Connaughton

Vice-Chairman

8 October 1998.

Joint Committee on Health and Children

Proceedings of the Joint Committee

Thursday, 8 October, 1998

1.The Joint Committee met at 2.30 p.m. in Room G2, Kildare House. In the absence of the Chairman, Deputy Paul Connaughton, Vice-Chairman, took the Chair.

2.Attendance:

The following members were present:

3.Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of 22 September were approved and signed.

4.Draft Report on 12th World AIDS Conference, Geneva:

The Report, as circulated, was adopted. The Chairman indicated that a report on a conference recently attended in Salzburg, Austria, would shortly be available.

5.Health Promotion:

The Chairman welcomed (i) Mr. Alastair Ross, Managing Director and Mr. Patrick Carroll, Company Secretary, P.J. Carroll & Co. Ltd. and (ii) Mr. Liam Peters, Managing Director and Mr. Paul Sadler, Group General Manager, External Affairs, John Player & Sons Ltd.

Mr. Ross and Mr. Peters were invited to make short opening statements and these were followed by a question and answer session. As part of Mr. Peter’s presentation, the Committee agreed that he could use a chart showing a typical advertisement of his Company’s tobacco product. Much of the discussion centred round tobacco advertising and the potential serious health risks due to smoking and whether regular use of tobacco was addictive. The tobacco manufacturers claimed that their advertising was not aimed at encouraging or attracting new smokers, but rather to persuade existing smokers to switch to their brands.

The Chairman thanked the witnesses for attending and they withdrew from the meeting.

6.Any Other Business:

(i)Rapporteurs: Senator Jackman made an oral presentation on an assignment on behalf of the Committee. Subject to getting a formal application, the Committee agreed in principle to a payment of £5,000 for the rapporteur. Senator Jackman indicated that she might subsequently apply for a further sum. The Committee agreed to address that issue when firm details were submitted.

(ii)It was also agreed that future meetings would revert to alternate Thursdays at 9.30 am.

There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 4.00 pm.

Senator Mary Jackman

Acting-Chairman.

22 October 1998

Joint Committee on Health and Children

Proceedings of the Joint Committee

Thursday, 22 October 1998

1.The Joint Committee met at 9.30 a.m. in Room G2, Kildare House.

2.Attendance

The following Members were present:-

Deputies Cecilia Keaveney, Dan Neville, Alan Shatter and Róisín Shortall and Senators Camillus Glynn, Mary Jackman (in the Chair) and Pat Moylan.

Apologies were received from Deputies Paul Bradford, Deirdre Clune, Paul Connaughton and Batt O’Keeffe and Senators Dermot Fitzpatrick and Pat Gallagher.

In the absence of the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman, it was agreed that Senator Mary Jackman would take the Chair.

3.Minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed and signed.

4.Correspondence

(i)It was agreed that Deputy Neville should represent the Committee at a Children’s Rights Conference in Kilmainham on 22 October - fee of £30.

(ii)Meeting of European Parliament Committee on Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection, Brussels, 28 October: Discussion on European public health. It was agreed that the issue fell within the Committee’s remit and that the Chairman should attend (at a cost of £620).

5.Rapportéur Assignment

Senator Jackman brought forward a proposal for a research project into Attention Deficit Order in Ireland. Deputy Shatter formally proposed adoption of the proposal. The Committee confirmed its approval of the assignment (fee £5,000), subject to the proposed deadline of end-January, 1999 being met. The Chairperson referred to previous correspondence from an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder group in Limerick. It was agreed to invite the group to make a presentation to the Committee on a mutually suitable date. It was also decided to defer a decision on further research until the rapporteur assignment was completed.

6.Work Programme

(i)The Committee agreed that a draft report should be drawn up by a Rapporteur on the current review before the Committee: Health Promotion in the context of tobacco advertising/consumption.

(ii)Before the report is drawn up it was agreed to hear evidence from the representatives of the medical profession on the effects of smoking on health.

(iii)It was agreed that a priority list should be drawn up from the work programme for consideration.

(iv)In private session.

7.Any Other Business

(i)In private session.

(ii)On the proposal of Deputy Shatter it was agreed that the Chairman should write to the Minister for Health and Children expressing concern about families at risk, action on reports to the Courts under the Children Act, access to children etc.

8.Adjournment

There being no further business the Committee adjourned at 10.30a.m.

Batt O’Keeffe T.D.,

Chairman.

19 November, 1998.

JOINT SESSION

JOINT COMMITTEE ON EUROPEAN AFFAIRS AND JOINT COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND CHILDREN

FRIDAY, 30 OCTOBER, 1998

1. The joint session of the European Affairs and Health and Children Joint Committees was held at 10.48 a.m. in Room G2, Kildare House

2. Attendance

The following Members were present:

Deputies Batt O’Keeffe and Bernard Durkan (Joint Chairmen).

Deputies P. Bradford, M. Brennan (substituting for M. Collins), P. Carey, D. Clune, B. Cooper-Flynn, S. Doherty (substituting for A. Reynolds), T. Gregory, S. Haughey, S. Kirk, D. Lydon, J. McGuinness, D.Neville, S.Power and J. Wall.

Senators D.Fitzpatrick, C.Glynn, and P.Moylan

Mr. N. Andrews MEP, Mr. A.Gillis MEP, Ms. B.Malone MEP, Ms. P.McKenna MEP.

Also in attendance were Senators D.Cassidy, J.Connor and R.Kiely.

3. Meeting with EU Commissioner, Pádraig Flynn.

The Chairman, Deputy Batt O’Keeffe, on behalf of the two Joint Committees, welcomed the EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Mr. Pádraig Flynn. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss health promotion at the EU level, with particular reference to tobacco advertising and consumption.

The Commissioner, addressing the meeting, welcomed the opportunity to describe efforts being made at EU level to reduce tobacco consumption, especially among young people. A landmark EU Directive, banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship on TV, had recently been agreed. He acknowledged, however, that the powerful tobacco industry was already looking at alternative campaigns to promote their products. It would be essential, in the Commissioner’s view, to harmonise anti-tobacco legislation across the EU, if any significant progress is to be made in reducing consumption on health grounds.

The Commissioner described other recent health promotion policy initiatives and welcomed the active support of the European Parliament in that regard. He also referred to the anomaly, whereby the EU was actually subsidising tobacco production in poorer regions of the EU, while at the same time attempting to reduce tobacco consumption. He was convinced that funding for those poor regions would be better spent on alternative means of employment (mainly subsistence farming), particularly as the quality of the produce was of such a low quality in those areas that it could not be used in any event in EU Member States. He added that there was a proposal to deduct 10 million ECUs from the tobacco subsidies to set up an information campaign to reduce/prevent tobacco consumption. Overall, EU tobacco production ranked second largest in the world, amounting to an annual 694 billion ECUs, of which, 218 billion ECUs’ worth were exported to third countries. It was pointed out that there were very powerful pro-tobacco lobbies at work and it was not necessarily the case that all EU Member States were unanimous in their approach to reducing consumption, e.g. Germany was certainly not pro-active in that regard.

The health impact of tobacco consumption was outlined by the Commissioner: Three million deaths a year world wide were attributed to tobacco abuse. A total of 30 percent of all cancers were tobacco related. He added that 60 percent of smokers began smoking before 18 years of age and 90 percent by the age of 20. That was why it was imperative to target the younger age groups with an anti-smoking programme that would be effective within the teenage sector. He cited the case of Finland, where a total ban on tobacco advertising since 1978 had led to a significant drop in smoking rates among the population as a whole.

There followed an exchange of views with the Members and MEPs. Reference was made to sponsorship of certain sports by the tobacco industry and the fact that cable and satellite TV virtually ensured the presence of such advertising on our screens. “Product placing”, through the portrayal of smoking and tobacco manufacturers’ logos, in films funded by the industry was another obvious area that was extremely difficult to control. The Committee was concerned also about the fact that health promotion in Ireland was fragmented across a number of departments/agencies and the budget involved was insignificant in comparison with the enormous advertising budgets available to the tobacco industry.

The meeting concluded with the Chairman of the Joint Committee on European Affairs, Deputy Bernard Durkan, thanking the Commissioner and describing his Committee’s involvement in COSAC (Conference of European Affairs Committees) and the tracking of relevant EU legislation by the Committee.

The Commissioner thanked both Committees for meeting him and he indicated that he would be happy to return to address a further meeting at a later date to discuss other issues falling within his remit.

The meeting concluded at 12 noon.

Joint Committee on Health and Children

19 November 1998

1The Joint Committee met at 9.30 a.m. in Room G2, Kildare House.

2.Attendance

The following Members were present:-

Deputies Batt O’Keeffe, Cecilia Keaveney, Deirdre Clune, John Gormley, Paul Connaughton, Dan Neville, and Senators Pat Gallagher, Camillus Glynn, Mary Jackman, and Pat Moylan.

Apologies were received from Deputies Ahern and Dennehy.

3.Minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed and signed.

4.In view of the Health Debate due to commence at 10.30 in Dáil Éireann, which many members wanted to participate in, it was agreed that the European Parliament report, Deputy Nevilles report and Deputy Gormleys proposal re fluoridation would be put back to the next meeting.

The Chairman informed members that he had written to the Ceann Comhairle with regard to filling the position of Committee Clerk which had been vacant for some time. He also informed members that the Minister for Health and Children had been written to regarding families at risk and that the Ministers Office had promised a quick response.

5.The Chairman then welcomed Professor Ryan and Ms. Clare Chambers from the Irish Society of Toxicology and they proceeded to give a presentation covering health issues with regard to smoking. Their presentation emphasised the absolute need to get the message across that smoking damages health and the need for primary prevention i.e. stopping people from ever taking up smoking. Professor Ryan said that this should be addressed at primary level children. He said that Ireland could take the lead in a major health promotion campaign. The presentation also covered passive smoking and the fact that the “dose response relationship” is the key factor in damaging health.

A question and answer session followed which covered a definition of addiction, whether health studies have been done on the cost of smoking related disease in Ireland, why some people give up smoking, whether women are at greater risk from smoking than men, the increased number of young girls beginning to smoke, the double exposure of people in Dublin to risk due to other pollutants, whether increasing tax on cigarettes doubly penalises people on lower incomes, how to get second level children to stop smoking, the contribution GPs have to make, the fact that children can have unsupervised access to cigarette vending machines, the level of integration between agencies which try to combat smoking and the benefit of shock advertising.

The Chairman thanked Professor Ryan and Ms. Chambers for their presentation and they said that they would be willing to assist the Joint Committee in the future if needed.

6.Any Other Business

It was agreed that the Irish College of General Practitioners should be invited to the next meeting of the Joint Committee and that the Secretary General of the Department should be invited to the following meeting. The Chairman said that he would intend to have the report on this area completed by Easter 1999 at the latest.

The Chairman said that the draft annual report would be brought forward to the next meeting of the Joint Committee.

Senator Pat Gallagher raised the issue of the submission regarding malicious allegations of sexual abuse which had been circulated to members and informed the Joint Committee that the legislatory problem referred to in the submission, which related to the Protection of Persons Act, had been addressed during the Bills passage through the Seanad.

Batt O’Keeffe T.D.

Chairman

3 December 1998