The Department of Health does not undertake investments of any sort, either pension or other investment funds. In relation to other agencies, I have requested the HSE and the agencies under the auspices of my Department to reply directly to the Deputy with information sought by the Deputy.
In relation to guidelines on investing in the tobacco industry, Ireland has ratified and is a party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The FCTC is the first global public health treaty. It is an evidence -based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health and was developed by countries in response to the globalisation of the tobacco epidemic. It aims to tackle some of the causes of that epidemic and Ireland has made very good progress in implementing the FCTC to date.
Article 5.3 of that legally binding Convention states the following:
“In setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law”.
Guidelines for the implementation of the above-mention Article 5.3 were developed to assist parties. Paragraphs 4.7 and 7.2 of the guidelines state the following:
“4.7 Government institutions and their bodies should not have any financial interest in the tobacco industry, unless they are responsible for managing a Party’s ownership in a State-owned tobacco industry.
7.2 Parties that do not have a State-owned tobacco industry should not invest in the tobacco industry and related ventures.”
The Deputy may be interested to know that Minister Harris and I have recently written to the Minister for Finance in relation to the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and its equity holdings in tobacco companies. In the context of a review of ISIF’s investment strategy, we have requested that the investment in tobacco companies be excluded from the investments undertaken by the ISIF.
