Smoking at work ‘costs 5m per day’

SMOKING in the workplace could be costing the Irish economy as much as 5m per day, research has shown.

Health Minister Micheál Martin says the study by UCD economist, Dr David Madden, further strengthened his position on introducing a ban on smoking in all workplaces, including pubs, next January.

A conference organised by the Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) heard yesterday that the economic cost of smoking in the workplace in terms of absenteeism, lower productivity and lost productivity due to illness and death could be as high as 2.07 billion each year.