TADG O'SULLIVAN,
Sir, - In response to Cllr Taaffe's letter of May 29th, the Vintners' Federation of Ireland does take its responsibilities on the smoke in pubs issue seriously and is acting on them.
For the past three years we have been helping our members to upgrade their premises with improved ventilation; have actively encouraged the use of non-smoking areas; and have worked closely with the relevant health boards to promote good practice. To date almost 400 of our members have received detailed advice on how to improve their ventilation and many of these have now made the investment.
In all cases our first concern is the protection of staff from the smoke, although clearly the environment for customers is also greatly improved.
We are very keen to discuss with the Government a sensible approach and have tried to arrange meetings with the Minister to further this. To date he has been unable to meet us. We are committed to improvements and consultation and look forward to a proper dialogue with the Government, which we believe to be critical to the future of our industry. - Yours, etc.
TADG O'SULLIVAN, Chief Executive, Vintners' Federation of Ireland, Castleside Drive, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.