The Government is letting the tobacco industry "off the hook" by not announcing it will support plans to sue cigarette companies, according to a law firm willing to take the case, writes Suzanne Breen
It accused the Government of "not valuing Irish lives" and being prepared to let 7,000 people die from smoking every year.
The Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) group, said it would be "very, very wrong and disappointing" if the Government wasn't prepared to "stand up to a powerful, rich industry".
The Department of Health is currently declining to say it will support a lawsuit to recoup the €1 billion spent treating victims of tobacco-related illnesses.
In 2001, leading US tobacco litigator, Mr Steve Berman, who has entered into partnership with Dublin law firm Ward and Fitzpatrick, advised the Health Minister, Mr Martin, that the State could win such a case.
He also offered to fund the €3 million legal action on a no-win, no fee-basis. Informed sources have said the Government has effectively decided not to support the case. That decision followed legal advice from the Attorney General and the Chief State Solicitor, one source said: "They are worried they would have to pay the tobacco industry's legal costs if they lose." The source believed the Department of Health was keen to back the case but the Department of Finance had "serious concerns".
A Department of Health spokesman yesterday declined to disclose the legal advice received, which he said was "sensitive" and confidential. No "categorical decision" had yet been reached on suing the cigarette companies, he insisted.
Mr Francis Fitzpatrick of Ward and Fitzpatrick, said: "The public has a right to know the legal advice given to the Department as it was paid for by taxpayers' money.
"There is no need to be restrained by the fear of incurring huge legal fees. We are absolutely confident this case would be successful if the Government supported it.
"The tobacco industry may settle the case before it reached court. That has been the experience in the US. The cigarette companies must be delighted. By not supporting the case, the Government is letting them off the hook.
"Seven thousand people here are killed by smoking every year. The Government is not valuing Irish lives. Its inaction does not compare well with the British government's decision to fund the case taken by the families of Omagh bomb victims." Mr Fitzpatrick said his firm had 38 High Court actions against the tobacco industry, taken by people suffering from lung-cancer or the lung disease emphysema. Almost 2,000 other people were considering suing cigarette companies, he added.
ASH chairman, Prof Luke Clancy, said: "The tobacco industry is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Irish people. It advertises and sells a product it knows will kill.
"That is a grave wrong and it will be very disappointing if the Government will not use the law to make cigarette companies pay for the damage they have done and are still doing.
"Any financial risks involved in the case should not be more important than obtaining justice. We hope a final decision has not been taken by the Government on this matter."
If the Government wasn't prepared to attempt to recoup the money spent on treating tobacco-related illnesses, it should support hospitals taking such a case, he stated.
It could also consider backing the individual cases taken by lung cancer sufferers. "If the Government has the will, there are many ways of challenging the tobacco industry," Prof Clancy said.