Vol. 399 No. 7
42 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Health if he has satisfied himself with the observance to date of new regulations concerning smoking in public places; if he has any plans to improve enforcement of these regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Deputy will be aware that the regulations referred to in his question — Tobacco (Health Promotion and Protection) Regulations, 1990 — came into effect on 1 May this year and in the circumstances it would be difficult to conduct an objective evaluation of their efficiency in such a short period of time.
On the basis however of feedback to date from a wide range of interests there appears to be a very high level of general support for the new provisions and there would not appear to be any evidence of widespread non-observance.
I can ensure the Deputy, however, that I am keeping the matter under continuous review both from the point of view of the scope of the regulations and their enforcement.
