A ban on smoking in bars should be introduced within four years, says a policy document to be launched today by the Environmental Health Officers Association.
An immediate ban should be introduced on smoking in the dining area of restaurants and cafés and at meal times in bars serving snacks and plated meals, the document says.
The EHOA represents officials who work for health boards and who monitor compliance with food, hygiene and other regulations. The association is holding a seminar in Galway today on the theme Towards a Tobacco Free Environment and the policy document will be launched at the seminar.
Calling for a ban on smoking in bars by the end of 2006, the document says that within that time, "we believe there will be a popular public consensus for such a step".
Referring to "passive smoking", it says there is a need for a greater public awareness "that there is no safe limit for environmental tobacco smoke exposure and that ventilation may only reduce the incidence of short term irritants."
"It will not safeguard the health of those long-term exposed or those such as children who are susceptible to its damaging effects."
While about 30 per cent of people smoke, as many as 80 per cent are passive smokers and have tobacco by-products in their bloodstream, the document continues..
Smoking kills nearly 7,000 people in Ireland each year and "the increase in teenage smoking suggests that such horrifying statistics will be with us for generations to come" unless effective action is taken now.
"The cynical marketing of tobacco so as to appeal to the fashion-conscious young reaps profits for tobacco companies whilst resulting in ill health and years of misery for its addicts.
"Far more needs to be done to inform young people of the ways the tobacco industry has deliberately targeted them in the interest of profit. Youngsters need to be advised how best to resist such messages and how to adopt a healthy lifestyle, otherwise the rise in teenage smoking is set to continue."
The association says that shops which sell tobacco products to underage customers should have their right to sell tobacco removed. Tobacco products should be removed from the Consumer Price Index , and taxes on tobacco should be increased by more than the rate of inflation each year, it adds, and the extra tax revenue generated should be directly invested into tobacco-control programmes.