The department’s chief medical officer, Tony Holohan, told the committee on health and children it had received 6,000 submissions in recent months.
“This is part of the tactical game to drown us in paper,” said Dr Holohan, who claimed the submissions were made by a range of different parties.
Health Minister James Reilly, who introduced the plain packaging bill when the committee met yesterday, said the submissions would be clear evidence of who the parties were.
Dr Holohan said some of the submissions made reference to the bill on standardised packaging, as well as the EU’s new tobacco directive.
He said the department had also noticed a significant rise in freedom of information requests and other activity being generated, directly or indirectly, by the tobacco industry.
“Part of the strategy is to delay us in our capacity, in terms of getting the necessary work done for the legislative process,” he said.
Dr Holohan said he had no doubt that it was a tactical exercise on behalf of the tobacco industry.
Dr Reilly said he would be astonished if the tobacco industry did not fight “tooth and nail” on the packaging issue.
Source: Evelyn Ring, Irish Examiner, 06/12/13
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