The need for a statutory ban on smoking in public places is now self-evident. After years of procrastination and half-baked measures by successive governments, the appalling damage being wreaked on society by the tobacco industry demands tough, remedial action. The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, promised radical anti-smoking legislation some 18 months ago. A Bill has yet to be published. In the meantime, an estimated 10,000 Irish citizens have died from smoking-related illnesses. It is a barbarous situation. If such numbers of people were being killed in any other way there would be uproar and emergency legislation would be rushed through the Dβil. But the tobacco industry is so rich and powerful that it has thwarted the efforts of government to control it.
The Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children published a report yesterday urging the Government to take legal proceedings for damages against the tobacco industry. It also suggested that smoking be banned in public houses; that a tax of £2 be imposed on 20 cigarettes over a four-year period and that the Office of Tobacco Control be given the resources to enforce the law. In distinguishing between public houses and nightclubs, restaurants and hotels, the report leans towards half-measures. Nothing short of a total ban on smoking in all such establishments could be effectively or fairly enforced.
It was predictable that the Vintners Federation of Ireland would describe the proposed ban on smoking in public houses as "unworkable, unrealistic and unenforceable", given that smoking and drinking are closely inter-linked in our society. However, publicans have a duty not just to their customers but to their employees. Only last Tuesday, the Government responded to representations from vintners organisations and increased the number of hours that young people of 16 and 17 years of age can work in licensed premises. Given the smoky atmosphere of most such establishments and recent medical findings that 30 minutes of "passive smoking" have the same effect on the heart as smoking a packet of cigarettes, there is an unanswerable need for change.
The Minister for Health has spoken of raising the age at which cigarettes can be sold to children to 18 years. Given that commitment, it would make no sense to permit minors to work for long hours in smoke-filled environments. Especially as research shows that 80 per cent of all smokers become addicted between the ages of 14 and 16 years. The terrible damage that tobacco products cause to individuals and to society can no longer be denied. Every winter, about half of all patients in Irish hospitals are admitted because of smoke-related diseases. The economic and social costs are horrendous.