Smoking by young people should be classed as a paediatric disease as part of a radical new approach to reducing teenage smoking, according to a draft report being considered by an Oireachtas committee.
The draft report proposes the age of persons to whom cigarettes can legally be sold be increased from 16 to 18 years.
It recommends substantial increases in penalties for breach of this law and a broad range of health and educational measures, including the inclusion of an antismoking message throughout the school curriculum.
The document, The Report on Health and Smoking: A National Anti-Smoking Strategy was circulated to members of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children this week.
It was prepared by Fine Gael's health spokesman Mr Alan Shatter, who was appointed rapporteur of the committee last year for this purpose and the committee will begin debating it next week.
The committee decided 18 months ago to consider the issue of smoking and held 13 public hearings on the subject, two of which heard from representatives of the Irish tobacco industry.
Once the report is approved, probably with some amendment, the committee will place it before the Oireachtas. There will be a Dail debate, during which the Minister for Health will probably respond to the report's recommendations.
The report quotes research showing that 80 per cent of adult smokers start before they are 18, and that there is a huge increase in smoking among under-18s in Ireland. In 1993, 28 per cent of the adult population smoked, and the following year the Department of Health set an objective of bringing this figure down to 20 per cent.
However, the report states that 31 per cent of the adult population now smokes, with 34 per cent of those aged 15-18 smoking. It suggests that if the present trend continues, over 40 per cent of the population will be smoking in five years.
The recommendations, heavily influenced by the approach to teenage smoking taken by the US Food and Drugs Administration, proposes that youth smoking be classed a paediatric disease to ensure that smoking, and not simply its effects, is targeted by public policy.
The report says smoking is the largest health problem among children in the State.