Madam, - It is ironic that the first Minister publicly to come out against a measure that protects workers from the harmful effects of passive smoke, the single biggest indoor air pollutant, is the Minister for the Environment, Mr Martin Cullen.
That he would publicly stab his Cabinet colleague in the back while Mr Martin is on holidays says more about Mr Cullen than anything else. It brings a whole new meaning to the term cabinet collegiality. Contrast that with the behaviour of the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Joe Walsh, who has clarified his position and has given Minister Martin his full support in bringing in the ban on January 1st, 2004.
What is more worrying about Mr Cullen's intervention is that he has tried to bolster his case by using junk science and anecdote, mostly promulgated by the tobacco industry. He might have had the courtesy, and the common sense, to check the facts with the Department of Health and Children about the real impact of the ban on jobs, tourism and employment.
This is a health and safety issue, not an economic one. Lest Minister Cullen and other members of the Oireachtas forget, this issue has been debated in the houses of the Oireachtas for several years. In 1999 the Joint Committee on Health and Children, having looked at the evidence, unanimously called for a complete ban on smoking in all workplaces, including pubs. This is not something that is being rushed in.
Any watering down of this initiative to protect the health of workers from passive smoke will be a victory for the tobacco industry and their mouthpieces. - Yours, etc.,
Dr FENTON HOWELL,
ASH Ireland,
Dublin 4.
Madam, - The draconian nature of the proposal for a total ban on smoking in pubs, restaurants and hotels has moved the debate from one about public health to one about individual rights in our society. The health issue could be addressed by a variety of compromise solutions. The current proposal is nothing less than an attack on the individual rights of a significant minority of the Irish people and, as such, should be strongly resisted.
The logical conclusion of the proposed ban would be not only a total prohibition of smoking but also the prohibition of drinking alcohol in pubs. After all, how many people die on our roads every year as a result of both active and passive drinking, to say nothing of the increased health service costs and massive social problems resulting from the consumption of alcohol?
Democracy involves not only majority rule but also a respect for the rights of minorities and individuals. Furthermore, it also involves rule by consensus and compromise. To date, Mr Martin seems to have eschewed any compromise, preferring rule by diktat and even avoiding a debate in the Oireachtas on this issue.
If the proposed ban is effected, then next year it will not be us watching Big Brother but Big Brother watching us! - Yours, etc.,
DESMOND McGRANE,
Kilteragh Drive,
Foxrock,
Dublin 18.
Madam, We in the Environmental Health Officers Association are most disappointed with the negative stance that the Minister for the Environment and other elected representatives have taken on the proposed ban on smoking in the workplace. We fully support Mr Micheál Martin on this issue and we urge him in the strongest of terms not to cede to pressure of a compromise.
Everyone is fundamentally entitled to a healthy working environment. Surely the Minster for Environment must agree that there can be no compromise on lives. - Yours, etc.,
ANN MARIE PART,
Deputy Chairperson,
Environmental Health
Officers Association,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Madam, - Heartiest congratulations to Mr Cullen and the other righteous crusaders in Fianna Fáil (well over half of their sitting TDs, according to a party source in your front-page report of August 12th) who are so courageously opposing the proposed ban on smoking in pubs.
I seem to recall that in February, when the largest mass protests to take place in the State in decades were occurring in opposition to Ireland's complicity with the US invasion of Iraq, not a single member of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party spoke out against Government policy on the issue.
They know which side their bread is buttered, to be sure! Then, as now, perceived financial issues were deemed of greater importance than human lives. - Yours, etc.,
PADDY MONAHAN,
Castle Avenue,
Dublin 3.