Madam, - Ash Ireland now wishes to ban smoking in cars carrying children under 16 (Health Supplement, January 29th). The reason for this, according to its chairperson, Dr Angie Browne, is that smoking in cars when children are present is dangerous to the health of the child and children are unlikely to ask an adult to stop.
However, her admission that this would be merely an interim measure before ASH would push for a total ban on smoking in cars suggests that this ban is not about children's health at all. A total ban on smoking in cars, even by committed smokers driving alone, would be an intolerable restriction on personal freedom, yet this is precisely the admitted intention of Ash Ireland. On that basis alone the Government should dismiss Dr Browne's demand for this interim ban. - Yours, etc,
AIDAN O'CARROLL,
Bridgewater Quay,
Dublin 8.