Prisons and cells in Garda stations will be exempt from the smoking ban, the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, confirmed during a Dáil debate yesterday on the controversial regulations required to implement the measure.
However the ban, originally scheduled to come into effect on January 26th, may now be delayed until early February because of legal concerns.
Mr Martin said the regulations would not apply to "dwellings" and further legal advice was being sought from the Attorney General to clarify what types of premises were covered by the term. They were working "to ensure the steps we take are cast-iron. We are examining the possibility of legal challenge."
It remains unclear whether residents in nursing homes and psychiatric hospitals will be exempt from the ban on smoking in the workplace.
During the two-hour debate, the Minister was praised for his commitment to implement the ban but the Opposition criticised the lack of clarity over the definition of a "dwelling" and if it would apply to nursing homes and psychiatric hospitals as well as prisons.
"It is extremely important when a significant change is being introduced and implemented, that it is done in a cast-iron way without any flaws," said Labour's health spokeswoman, Ms Liz McManus.
Fine Gael's spokeswoman Ms Olivia Mitchell said it was "bizarre and defies logic" that "if the smoker will not stop smoking, the publican will be fined".
She added that it was "contrary to the protocol in criminal legislation to link the offence to the perpetrator" and said the legislation should be changed to "articulate what the publican must do".
Mr Finian McGrath, the Independent TD for Dublin North Central, was the only speaker in the debate to oppose a blanket ban and said there was "an element of the nanny state and the health police coming into this debate and sometimes I believe ministers and their advisers are losing the run of themselves. This is a wake-up call for all genuine civil libertarians."
Opening the debate, Mr Martin said he had made it clear that the ban would apply to "enclosed places of work" and made an amendment to that effect, which he had forwarded to the European Commission. "When announcing the publication of the new regulations on October 23rd, I stated I would also introduce an appropriate measure to deal with the unique position in prisons and an amendment to this effect has also been notified to the Commission following consultation with the Department of Justice."
He accepted there was considerable concern about the issue of "dwellings". The Attorney General was clarifying the issue, "particularly nursing homes and residential care setting, because people live there and have done so for considerable lengths of time".
The Minister added that "the real beneficiaries of these measures will be the future generation who will live, work and socialise in a tobacco-free environment".
He rejected claims that there was no debate on environmental tobacco smoke when the enabling legislation went through the Dáil.
Fine Gael's Mr Gay Mitchell (Dublin Central) had specifically wanted to include the phrase "licensed premises and registered clubs" in the law and the House unanimously accepted the proposal. It did not go through "on the nod" as some claimed.
Ms Mitchell believed that the only issue which had received more coverage than the smoking ban was the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy.
Welcoming the ban, Ms Mitchell said it was "ironic that prisoners will be looked after but those who are vulnerable and need our protection are not. Some concession must be made for them in this respect."
There was a genuine fear that in psychiatric institutions "there will be attempts to smoke, even under the bed clothes in some cases" and this would present a fire hazard, she said.
