asked the Minister for Justice what age a person must be before he, or she, can purchase cigarettes or tobacco; and if he will give instructions to the Gardaí to have the law strictly enforced so that persons under that age may not be sold cigarettes or tobacco.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Sale of Cigarettes and Tobacco.
77.
Section 39 of the Children's Act, 1908, provides that it is an offence to sell cigarettes to any person apparently under the age of 16 years.
I do not think that any purpose would be served in issuing instructions of the kind suggested. I share the Deputy's anxiety that children should not be facilitated in smoking but I do not think that police intervention is the way to go about it.