SEÁN HAUGHEY, Minister for State for Youth Affairs at the Department of Education and Science, has said he was not aware that he held shares in an international tobacco firm. He has asked his investment manager to sell the shares in Altria Group, formerly Philip Morris International, "forthwith".
In response to a query from The Irish Timesabout the latest Register of Members' Interests of Dáil Éireann, which states that Mr Haughey owns shares in Altria Group, 120 Park Avenue, New York, a tobacco company, a spokeswoman for the Minister said the shares were bought through a discretionary investment manager.
"The shares he purchased in October 2007 were part of a portfolio of shares purchased through a discretionary investment manager, who has total discretion over which shares were purchased.
"He has instructed the discretionary investment manager to sell these shares forthwith and has asked for a review of the shares in his portfolio as he personally would never have wished to have purchased shares in a tobacco company," the spokeswoman said.
Mr Haughey claimed he was not aware that Altria was the parent company of a tobacco firm. However, the Register of Members' Interests describes Altria as a tobacco company.
Current Government policy is in favour of a smoke-free society. Phillip Morris, the manufacturer of major cigarette brands including Marlboro, was among a group of tobacco companies that unsuccessfully took legal action to oppose the implementation of the Public Health (Tobacco Acts) 2002-2004.
The company changed its name to Altria in 2003. At the same time, it introduced a compliance and integrity policy "to rebuild public trust and align our company's behaviour with societal expectations after a period of falling out of step with society on tobacco issues".