The Government is facing a legal challenge from the cigarette industry over a new ban on the in-store advertising of tobacco.
PJ Carrolls, John Player & Sons and Gallaher (Dublin) Ltd, will also argue in a joint action that the powers given to authorised officers of the Office of Tobacco Control to police the ban on workplace smoking are excessive and unconstitutional.
Lawyers acting for the companies will lodge a statement of claim in the High Court today in objection to the advertising ban in the Public Health Tobacco Amendment Act of 2004.
A spokeswoman for the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said his Department had been notified of the industry's intention to take legal action. "We will be robustly defending it," she said.
The tobacco companies are not challenging the ban on workplace smoking, which was initiated under the Act at the end of March.
However, they object to separate provisions in the Act which introduce an outright ban on advertising in shops and pubs.
They will also say the requirement to store tobacco in closed boxes out of sight of the public is unacceptable. Such a restriction was described as "extraordinary" by PJ Carrolls.
In a statement, the company said: "These measures mean that it would not be possible for consumers to know which tobacco products are available for purchase.
"The company believes that these restrictions would limit our ability to compete, acquire market share, or to introduce new products into the Irish market place." PJ Carrolls said it was not taking issue with the ban on television and radio advertising, which date from the 1970s, or with the ban on newspaper advertising in 2000.
The company said they replicated "in almost identical form" provisions which were successfully challenged by the industry in the High Court in 2002.
"Adults who choose to smoke, and who are fully aware of the risks, should have the right to basic consumer information about the tobacco products available on the market," the company said.
