The Government could net up to £20 billion from international tobacco firms if it pursued them for the costs of treating patients with smoking-related illnesses, a legal expert predicted yesterday.
The draft report of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children recommends that the Government, the eight health boards and the VHI consider legal action against the tobacco companies. The report is the culmination of more than 18 months' work.
The estimate of £20 billion damages was made by Dublin solicitor Mr Peter McDonnell. He works with US law firm Robins Kaplan Millar and Ciresi which won the historic $6.1 billion case on behalf of the state of Minnesota against the tobacco industry. It also won damages for a US private health insurance firm in the case. The damages would compensate the State for the treatment of smokers in the past, and the future health treatment which smokers would require, Mr McDonnell said.
A number of Irish solicitors' firms are teaming up with US legal companies - with expertise of successfully suing tobacco firms - to offer to pursue the industry on the State's behalf. The draft report was compiled by Fine Gael health spokesman Mr Alan Shatter and will be discussed by the Oireachtas committee on Thursday. Committee chairman Mr Batt O'Keeffe said the document was comprehensive and very well researched. When its deliberations were complete, the final report would be forwarded to the Dail for debate, he added.
The draft report recommends the health boards come together to establish a consultative council in order to take a separate case against the tobacco industry. The report also proposes a lifting of the three-year statute of limitations for smokers and their families who may seek damages.
Other recommendations include a ban on cigarette vending machines, except when they are located in areas which are inaccessible to under-18s.
The Oireachtas committee is expected to seek new powers - on a par with those enjoyed by the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee - to enable it call representatives of the tobacco industry and interview them. As part of this the committee is interested in uncovering how much scientific evidence the industry had about the health effects of its products.
Information elicited in this way would be made public, making it easier for those who believe they have been damaged by tobacco to sue.
"The tobacco industry concealed for over four decades their own research which clearly indicated that smoking damages health and that nicotine is an addictive substance," Mr McDonnell said. "The recent admission by Philip Morris that there was overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that cigarette smoking causes diseases like cancer rings very hollow as they continue to contest cases based on that very premise."