The Government's ban on smoking in the workplace takes effect today after months of muddle and uncertainty. The hospitality industry campaigned aggressively against its introduction.
Some members of the vintners' trade are still determined to hinder its implementation. In spite of all that, the general public is favourably disposed towards the development. And, in future years, the ban on tobacco smoking in restaurants, bars and other public places will probably be regarded as a major advance in the medical and social life of this State. Many of the smokers who will be discommoded by the introduction of the ban today will come round to this view in time.
Already, other European countries are looking to Ireland as an example of what can be done to minimise the lethal effects of nicotine addiction. And Ireland's European Commissioner, Mr David Byrne, is developing health reform guidelines for other EU States. For far too long, the tobacco industry has been permitted to make huge profits from the misery, ill-health and death of those who use its products. In this small State, an estimated 7,000 people die every year and tens of thousands are incapacitated as a result of tobacco use. Every winter, hospital services are overwhelmed by the number of patients suffering from tobacco-related illnesses. And a recent study found that smoking costs the economy €1 million a day through lost productivity and absenteeism.
It may take months to ensure that members of the public and certain employers become compliant with the Tobacco Smoking (Regulations) of 2003. Changing established habits is always difficult. But the pattern of adjustment elsewhere shows what can be done. In spite of protestations of impracticality, the "no smoking" rule on aircraft and on most other forms of public transport is now obeyed, as it is in cinemas and theatres.
The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, has a fair wind behind him in his determination to protect the health and safety of workers and of the general public. The trade union movement supports the initiative because of the positive impact it will have on the health of workers in the hospitality sector through the elimination of passive smoking. Some 60 per cent of the public also approves of the ban. And a survey published by the Office of Tobacco Control last week found no evidence that licensed premises would lose business. More people, it found, would visit a pub to eat and to drink, than heretofore.
The battle to protect public health from the lethal effects of nicotine is likely to continue and intensify. In recent years, as adult males responded to specific health campaigns and gave up smoking, women and young people were targeted by the tobacco companies. The dangers of nicotine use must be brought home to those groups. And the law must be enforced where the sale of cigarettes to children under 16 years of age is concerned. Up to 50 per cent of shopkeepers continue to break the law in that regard. These irresponsible traders should be prosecuted and fined.