Vol. 515 No. 2
21 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Health and Children if each of the tobacco companies who sell cigarettes have furnished to his Department the comprehensive information sought from them concerning the ingredients and constituents of each of their cigarette products; and the further action, if any, he will take to obtain the information sought or prosecute those companies who are in violation of their obligation of disclosure under tobacco legislation. [5000/00]
On 16 June 1998 my Department requested disclosure of information from tobacco companies under section 5 of the Tobacco (Health Promotion and Protection ) Act, 1988, on the constituents of tobacco products and of the amount of such constituents used in all the brands of tobacco products manufactured or imported. Several reminders were sent to the companies. Officials met with the director of the Irish tobacco manufacturers advisory committee – ITMAC – on 13 August and on 30 November 1998. On 22 December 1998 a submission was made by a solicitor on behalf of the ITMAC companies. It was pointed out by the industry representative that there were omissions in the data supplied. The industry failed to rectify the omissions for some time.
The quality of the data supplied and the manner in which it was aggregated meant that the information was of no material use from a public health perspective. This fact was brought to the companies attention at a meeting on 13 October 1999. Since that meeting further disclosures have been made. In particular, one company, Gallahers has now provided information in a satisfactory format and my officials have been assured at a meeting on 8 February with the director of ITMAC that the other companies intend to provide the same level of disclosure shortly.
