Publicans who refuse to implement the smoking ban have been warned they could find themselves fighting to retain their liquor licences in court.
The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, confirmed yesterday that members of the public, as well as health boards or other bodies, will have a right to object to the renewal of a publican's licence at the District Court if the publican refuses to make any effort to ensure his or her premises are kept smoke-free.
Discouraging individual customers from tackling someone in a pub who lights up after consuming alcohol, Mr Martin said it was best to bring it to the attention of the publican. If the smoker was obstreperous, the Garda should be called by the publican.
The organisation representing rank-and-file gardaí has reacted angrily to the suggestion. Mr P.J. Stone of the Garda Representative Association said it was nonsensical to suggest calling the Garda. "It's not a function for a police force at all. We haven't resources to deal with far more serious issues, not to mind dealing with obstreperous smokers," he said.
He described the new regulations that will ban smoking in all workplaces, including pubs and restaurants, from Monday next, as "the most ill-conceived legislation ever conceived in this country".
He said publicans were obliged to run orderly premises and not serve anyone who was drunk. In the same manner, they should refuse to serve obstreperous smokers. He suggested publicans bar such people rather than calling the Garda.
"It seems now gardaí will have to police the public-order side of the smoking ban. It will alienate the police force. I think it's very unfair that members of the gardaí should have to police a smoking ban when it becomes a public-order issue," he said. "We are almost like the sweeper-uppers of somebody else's problems. We will be the laughing stock of the world on this," Mr Stone added.
Meanwhile, publicans were also warned that as well as risking the loss of their licence if they fail to implement the ban, those who attempt to obstruct the work of health board environmental health officers trying to ensure compliance with the new legislation will be subjected to the full rigours of the law.
Ms Anne Marie Part of the Environmental Health Officers' Association said that over the next few weeks she and her colleagues will be visiting pubs to help them comply with the ban.
Mr Tom Began, chief executive of the Health and Safety Authority, which will police the smoking ban in the industrial sector, acknowledged yesterday that it was unlikely that people who smoked in company cars, a practice which will be illegal from Monday, would be caught.