Vol. 401 No. 1
106 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health if he has satisfied himself regarding the initial indicators following the prohibition on smoking in certain public places; and the further steps he intends to take to ensure adherence to the regulations.
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.
