Vol. 433 No. 7
62 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Health if he will have arrangements made to extend the ban on smoking to cover all workplaces in recognition of the rights of non-smokers not to suffer the adverse health effects of passive smoking in view of the fact that his Department's Health Promotion Unit estimate that one Irish person dies every day due to the passive inhalation of carcinogens.
The Tobacco (Health Promotion and Protection) Regulations, 1990 introduced a range of restrictions and prohibitions on the consumption of tobacco products in a large number of public areas and facilities. Subsequently a Consultative Committee was established to examine the possibility of extending the scope of these regulations, or of introducing other restrictions on smoking in the workplace.
This committee decided that a voluntary code represented the most suitable means of introducing restrictions in the workplace and their suggested code was included in a booklet entitled Clean Air at Work which was widely circulated by the Health Promotion Unit of my Department late last year.
As yet it is too early to assess accurately the impact of this code.
