The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has accused those who defy the smoking ban of "bravado" and of seeking publicity by trying to get their photograph into the newspapers.
Mr Ahern was speaking in Dublin yesterday evening after he opened the national lung transplant unit in the Mater Hospital. He said the Government would shortly approve expenditure of €16 million for the €400 million redevelopment programme at the hospital.
Expressing satisfaction about the implementation of the ban, Mr Ahern said most people understood that the measure was being taken for health reasons.
He said a few people might engage in "nonsense" to defy it in public, but the arguments in the ban's favour were overwhelming.
"It's for the good of all of us," he said, adding that passive smoking increased the risk from lung cancer and stroke.
Referring to those who questioned the ban, Mr Ahern said: "If they just took five minutes ever to drop into the heart and lung unit in the Mater and see the patients that are suffering there, I would think that people would realise the benefits of it."
The hospital said it expects to perform the first lung transplant during the summer, and wants to carry out another two by the end of the year. Its deputy chief executive, Mr Brian Conlon, said the opening of the centre was a major step forward for Irish healthcare. The hospital has carried out 230 heart transplants.
While the €6 million lung transplant unit will cater initially for between two and three transplants annually, it will have a capacity for up to 15 transplants annually after new theatre facilities are complete.
Mr Ahern said that while the rate of lung donation was likely to increase once the programme was up and running, there was evidence of a declining trend in donor numbers worldwide. He said the Minister for Health was planning to establish an expert group to develop a plan to maximise the rate of donation.
