Claims by a new alliance of bars, hotels and restaurants that an impending smoking ban would result in 65,000 job losses are "exaggerated", the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said.
Mr Martin said he questioned the basis of that claim and said other countries or states had introduced smoking bans in licenced premises "without any of the consequences" suggested by the Irish Hospitality Alliance (IHA).
"My fundamental point is that this is a health and safety issue. . . . People who work in the hospitality trade have a 30 per cent higher chance of getting cancer or heart disease. That is the bottom line," the Minister said.
The ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants is to come into force on January 1st, 2004, and is designed to protect workers in the sector from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS).
Mr Martin said he had taken the decision following a "comprehensive and damning report" from the Health and Safety Authority and Office of Tobacco Control on the health effects of ETS.
The report concludes ETS is a serious carcinogenic. Other dangers include a risk of developing cancer, heart disease, respiratory illnesses, or giving birth to low-weight babies.
Mr Martin accepted those on the industry have "genuine fears" but was critical of the gathering resistance to the move. "We seem to be saying [to] bar workers or a person working in hotels or a restaurant, that somehow their health is of lesser value than someone in office work".
Referring to the example of the penalty points scheme, Mr Martin said Ministers could take decisions that would seriously improve public health.
Mr Martin said he was not looking to central Europe for a lead on the issue of tobacco-related illnesses. "The Nordic countries are leading . . . and I look to the US and Australia as places where this has been successfully brought in".
Industries could and would survive a smoking ban, the Minister said. "The cinema industry didn't collapse. People can get from one side of the Atlantic to the other without smoking".
A tripartite group of pro-health organisations - the Irish Cancer Society, the Irish Health Foundation and ASH Ireland - also rejected claims a smoking ban would lead to major job losses.
This group claimed that following a similar ban in California in 1998 revenue continued to grow in the bar and restaurant sector. It said the number of pubs and restaurants had increased since the introduction of the ban.
