The research found that adolescents have no difficulty in obtaining cigarettes from shops, despite laws which outlaw selling them to minors.
And a significant minority say that they get them from their friends, siblings and most disturbingly, thei
r parents.
Some 90% of 126 pupils from four post primary schools indicated little or no difficulty in obtaining cigarettes either from their parents, siblings or friends, with the average age at first cigarette at 12.7 years, the report which was part funded by the Naas-based Office of Tobacco Control found.
But when asked if he was surprised by the findings, Dr. Brendan O'Shea, a locally based GP and one of the researchers replied: "No, not at all."
Dr. O'Shea, who has served on the board of the Office of Tobacco Control spoke to the Leinster Leader on the same day that reports suggested smoking was on the rise again in Ireland after a dip brought on by the smoking ban.
He felt that the increase was probably due to the large population of Eastern Europeans who tend to have quite high smoking rates.
The research found that men tended to do a little better than women when it came to giving up smoking because women saw smoking as being part of weight management "in a very unhealthy manner".
"We recognise that there are good times and bad times to give up. People in Kildare are very stressed, and this is making giving up difficult," he explained, although noting that it is also a very expensive habit.
