Publicans have condemned the Government's decision to announce a ban on smoking in all licensed premises from January 1st next.
Both the Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI) and the Licenced Vintners' Association (LVA) said they were seeking an early meeting with the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, to discuss the implications of the ban.
The VFI's chief executive, Mr Tadg O'Sullivan, described it as "an overreaction" to the problem of passive smoking, while the LVA's chief executive, Mr Frank Fell, said the decision was based on "spurious empirical evidence".
Mr Martin insisted, however, that he was not for turning on the issue. He said: "The industry will have a go. But the feedback I have got from people and publicans privately has been positive."
Under draft regulations published yesterday, the smoking ban would extend to all workplaces, including restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, trains, taxis and other public service vehicles.
At present, employers can be fined up to €1,900 for allowing smoking in the workplace. Under the new law, this penalty may be amended, the Minister said.
It has yet to be decided whether smokers will also face penalties under the Bill, and whether repeat-offending pubs or restaurants will have their licences revoked.
Mr Martin noted there would be no exemptions to the law even where the staff in a premises expressed no opposition to smoking.
The chief executive of the Restaurants' Association of Ireland, Mr Henry O'Neill, said it had "mixed" views about the initiative. "If it's applied in a level way we would not have a problem with it. But we'd be afraid it won't be enforced properly, particularly in pubs," he said.
Trade unions, in contrast, unreservedly welcomed the move.
MANDATE national official Mr John Douglas said research showed 150 bar workers died in Ireland each year from ill-health caused by environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). "For too long, exposure to ETS in bars has been regarded as simply an occupational hazard," he said.
IMPACT official Ms Louise O'Donnell noted the annual ETS death toll was nearly three times higher than the total number of deaths through workplace accidents in industries such as construction, agriculture and mining.
Mr Martin added he had "no choice" but to introduce the ban following the receipt of the report published yesterday by the Health and Safety Authority and Office of Tobacco Control on the health effects of ETS.
"Before this consensus was correlated and stated so bluntly, it was possible to temporise, to negotiate, to water down the measures I'd like to have taken. But this report clearly positions the debate at a new level," he said.
Mr Fell, however, challenged the report's findings, saying "the idea that passive smoking shortens your life is not verifiable by the experience of our pension scheme." He said the LVA commissioned its actuaries to look at mortality rates among male bar staff, and there was "no evidence" to show they died younger than other men.
The Minister of State for Labour Affairs, Mr Frank Fahey, said the best way of making the ban effective was by creating a public outcry against passive smoking. Also welcoming the ban yesterday was the Environmental Health Officers Association, which represents 400 health board and local authority officers.