The smoking ban in the southwest is leading to people taking up "smoking for romance", a county councillor said yesterday.
Kilgarvan publican and Kerry county councillor Danny Healy-Rae said he had observed a new phenomenon which has grown since the introduction of the smoking ban in pubs and clubs.
"People are now smoking for romance. I have seen fellas and women who never smoked before taking up the habit because it means five minutes with her or him they'd never have otherwise," the councillor said.
When the smoker went out the back or the front for the five-minute cigarette break from the pub, the prospective lover followed, taking up the smoking habit just to initiate a meeting.
"It's an ideal situation for these people and an ideal way to meet someone.
"They get a chance they wouldn't otherwise get. But it means more people are smoking, and the ban is leading to harm," Cllr Healy-Rae claimed.
People are also catching cold from going outside, he added.
According to the HSE South, there is overall compliance with the smoking ban in Cork and Kerry and its inspectors have found few breaches.
The Office of Tobacco Control says the number of people smoking in Ireland has levelled at about 24 per cent.
The level represents about a one percentage point drop since the introduction of the ban in 2004.
However, the smoking ban was not introduced to bring down smoking prevalence, but to protect the health of workers, the spokeswoman for the office said.