The Government's chief medical adviser has ruled out any compromise over the proposed ban on smoking in the workplace, despite a report yesterday which predicted major job losses and a reduction in revenue from VAT and excise duty if it is implemented.
The report commissioned by the Irish Hospitality Industry Alliance, which represents pubs, hotels and restaurants, said that a "cautious" estimate of a 5 per cent drop in alcohol sales as a result of the ban would result in Exchequer losses of €157 million and 10,700 potential redundancies.
The report claimed that a worst-case scenario involving a 30 per cent fall-off in business could lead to revenue losses of almost €1 billion and 64,200 redundancies.
The chief author of the study, Mr Peter Brennan, managing director of A&L Goodbody Consulting, queried the scale of the problem of tobacco smoke and said evidence suggested that smoking-related deaths in the hospitality industry were just 13 compared to the Minister for Health's claims of several hundred.
In a statement yesterday, the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, insisted there was no evidence to suggest there would be a negative economic impact following the ban, which is due to come into force in January 2004.
The Government's chief medical adviser, Dr Jim Kiely, said there could be no compromise over the health of workers.
"What compromise can there be in this area of public health? The Minister cannot compromise on the health and safety of workers in the hospitality industry or discriminate in favour of workers in other sectors," Dr Kiely said.