[Intl-tobacco] Ireland: Going Indoor Smokefree, including bars

[Robert Weissman]

Martin announces total ban on smoking in the workplace
30 January 2003
Miche=E1l Martin TD, Minister for Health and Children and Frank Fahey TD
Minister for Labour Affairs today launched the Report on the Health Effects
of Environmental Tobacco Smoke in the Workplace by the Office of Tobacco
Control and the Health and Safety Authority.
Speaking at the launch, the Minister for Health and Children, Miche=E1l Mar=
tin
said "While the tobacco industry has played down any possibility of danger
in passive smoking, the advice contained in this report is blunt. Current
ventilation technologies are inadequate to give workers full protection fro=
m
the hazards of tobacco smoke. Exposure can best be controlled by banning
smoking in places of work. Acting on this advice I will introduce a
prohibition on smoking tobacco products in places of work and I have today
published draft regulations providing for this. Following a consultation
period, I intend to introduce these regulations on January 1st 2004".
"The World Health Organisation=B4s International Agency for Research on Can=
cer
has recently declared, without equivocation that environmental tobacco smok=
e
is carcinogenic to humans and it includes more than 50 known carcinogens -
frightening when one realises that these are being inhaled for prolonged
periods by many non smokers every day. The bottom line is you don=B4t have =
to
be a smoker to get cancer from cigarette smoking. You can get it if you wer=
e
never a smoker. That declaration, together with the increasing concern abou=
t
the health effects of environmental tobacco smoke, led to this report".
"As children grow, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke significantly
reduces their lung capacity and exercise tolerance. It damages the
health of
children right from the start: for example, it lowers birth weight. It has
been identified as a cause of asthma attacks and middle ear disease",
Minister Martin added.
Almost 70% of the adult population in Ireland are nonsmokers yet many peopl=
e
are unwillingly exposed, on a daily basis, to toxic environmental tobacco
smoke. Many public areas and facilities and some workplaces are subject to
prohibitions and restrictions on smoking and there is a growing demand for
increased protection from environmental tobacco smoke. Opinon polls here
show there is enormous public support, almost 90%, for extending bans on
environmental tobacco smoke. Even many smokers are supportive of
prohibitions on smoking in public places. Optimal protection for nonsmokers
and smokers is best provided by smokefree areas.
"Workers representatives have been concerned for some time over the threat
to the health of employees from toxic tobacco smoke. I have spoken to
representatives of the trade union movement on this matter and I appreciate
their support for wide ranging measures to eliminate tobacco smoke in the
workplace. It is only fair that we have a =B4level playing field=B4 in this
important area of public health and that the health of workers is protected
on an equitable basis for all."
"For far too long in Ireland, we=B4ve had the habit of shrugging our should=
ers
about health, as if it was something that simply happened. Removing tobacco
damage from our lives will have a long-term and significant positive effect
on our health as well as on domestic and workplace well-being. This
Government is going to act on this Report and deliver those entitlements"
concluded Minister Martin.