About two in five construction workers smoke, an amount "significantly higher" than the national average, according to the the Construction Workers Health Trust (CWHT).
The trust, a health promotion body for the construction industry, says 44 per cent of construction workers smoke, compared to the national average of 30 per cent.
The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, yesterday - National No Smoking Day - started a campaign to reduce the incidence of smoking in the industry. The "Kick the Habit" campaign, which has been running for three years, is organised by the CWHT, the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation.
The organisations said: "From a total of more than 500 construction workers who took part over the last three years, 30 per cent, or 150 workers, successfully stopped after one year, a rate comparable to the best of other interventions available to support smokers quitting".
Mr Martin, whose department supports the campaign, said "half of all smokers are seriously concerned about the effect of smoking on their health". He said there are immediate health benefits from quitting. "Within a day the risk of heart attack decreases. Within a year the risk of sudden death is almost cut in half and after 10 years the risk of heart attack becomes almost the same as that of a non-smoker".
The Irish Cancer Society estimated it received about 100 calls to its stop smoking helpline - 1850-201203 - yesterday, the same approximate number that rang on Jan 2nd.
Ms Norma Cronin, anti-tobacco consultant with the Irish Cancer Society, said that yesterday, Ash Wednesday, and just after the New Year are the times each year when people usually decide to give up smoking. An estimated 7,000 people die in the State each year from smoking related disease.
Mr Willie Ahern, chief executive of CWHT, said the figure of 44 per cent for construction workers was "based on individual one-to-one assessment carried out on 11,000 workers in the past five years".
He called on all construction employers to support anyone trying to stop smoking. The CWHT, in association with the Irish Heart Foundation and Irish Cancer society, offers free health assessment on building sites, he said.