Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 2 Mar 1994

Vol. 439 No. 6

Written Answers. - No Smoking Policy.

Nora Owen

Question:

134 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Health if he has issued any instructions to Government Departments to encourage a policy of no smoking in all offices in view of the fact that members of staff who are non-smokers have no choice of office and very often are confined in small spaces with a smoker.

Minister for Health (Mr. Howlin)

The then Minister for Health established a consultative committee in 1992 to examine the possibility of extending to the workplace the provisions of the Tobacco (Health Promotion and Protection) Regulations, 1990, which prohibits smoking in designated areas and facilities, including certain offices occupied by Government Departments.

The committee, which included representatives of employers and employees, agreed that a "Voluntary Code of Practice" was the most suitable means of extending the regulations. The committee's recommendations were accepted by my predecessor and subsequently circulated towards the end of 1992 in the form of a booklet called "Clean Air at Work".

I can confirm that this booklet was circulated to the Personnel Officer in each Government Department in December 1992. I have recently accepted the further recommendations of the consultative committee, which I reconvened late last year, that the voluntary code should be redrafted and promoted more comprehensively. I will be announcing measures in this regard in due course.