Health charities have expressed concern about a meeting senior Government ministers held recently with representatives of the tobacco industry.

The Chief Executives of the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation have written to the Taoiseach to communicate their shock that he, Minister Michael Noonan and Minister Alan Shatter hosted a meeting on May 7 for the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers Advisory Committee (ITMAC).

The charities say they are very concerned that the most senior level of Government met an industry whose only objective is to keep people smoking.

"The tobacco industry costs the State €1 billion more in healthcare costs than the Exchequer collects in taxes annually. The tobacco is not a normal industry and cannot be allowed a seat at the decision-making table."

The chjarities said in Ireland, the tobacco industry has to attract 50 new smokers a day to replace those who die or quit. Most of these are children who go on to be lifetime smokers and half of whom will later die from their addiction.

The Irish Cancer Society and Irish Heart Foundation have said in their letter that meeting the tobacco industry may have contravened Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC) to which Ireland is a signatory.

The two national charities state in the letter that there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry's interests and public health policy interests. There is no purpose in Governments, their servants or agents meeting the industry except on very narrow regulatory issues.

Kathleen O'Meara, Head of Advocacy and Communications at the Irish Cancer Society said, "The tobacco industry was trying everything it could to derail efforts designed to stop Irish people dying from smoking.

"Any organisation that tries to block, delay or disrupt legislation that will reduce the smoking rate is at the expense of Irish lives. The tobacco industry uses meetings like this recent one with the Taoiseach and senior Government Ministers to create a false air of credibility about their business practices but the reality is that this is a duplicitous industry that cannot be trusted."

The two charities have requested to meet the Taoiseach, Minister Noonan and Minister Shatter to discuss the matter.