Secondary analysis maximises the value of existing information for health policy and planning through analysing pre-existing data to answer new or additional questions to those for which it was initially collected.4 Large, population based datasets, like the Healthy Ireland Survey and TILDA, are especially good candidates for re-use by researchers. Good secondary analysis is driven by research questions rather than the existing data, following a clear, pre-defined plan, and is careful to consider the strengths and limitations of the data, given that it was not specifically collected for the purposes for which it is now being used.4 These good practice principlesunderpinned this report.

The aim of this study is to undertake an analysis of smoking patterns among adults in Ireland, and to document the effects of smoking on their health and wellbeing.

More specifically, the study objectives are:

1. To measure the prevalence of smoking among adults (aged 15+ years) in Ireland , and to identify the demographic factors independently associated with current smoking by utilising the Healthy Ireland Survey;
2. To measure the health and wellbeing status of people who smoke and compare this with the status of exsmokers and never smokers for the population, primarily using TILDA dataset for those aged 50 years and over, which best captures lifetime exposure, but also drawing on the Healthy Ireland Survey, and
3. To measure the prevalence of quitting behaviours among people who smoke, and to identify the factors associated with attempting