Smokers face jail for lighting up in pubs

SMOKERS face jail or heavy fines for lighting up in pubs when the ban is imposed on January 1.

Inspectors may use devices for measuring the levels of smoke in pubs when carrying out checks.

The State body enforcing the ban on smoking in the workplace said both the owners of the premises and the person smoking will be committing an offence. The penalties for breaking the law are fines of up to 1,900, up to three months in jail or both.

However, the Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) admitted yesterday that it will not have any inspectors to police the ban.

Environmental health officers with health boards will be the only people carrying out checks on premises and following up on complaints from the public about smoking. Therefore it will be up to the health boards to make the prosecutions. Only two people in the OTC are assigned to dealing with the smoking ban a chief inspector and an assistant working on the coordination of the system.

The OTC is working on rules for carrying out inspections across the country and guidelines for complying with the law. The protocols for the national inspection system will be ready in the autumn and will be similar to the procedures for dealing with food safety regulation breaches.

An OTC spokesperson said inspections will include checks on the presence of ashtrays, no smoking signs and the state of the air to detect smoke. Devices to monitor the air quality are available, the spokesperson said.

Minister for Health Micheál Martin says the fines under which he is introducing the ban will be the main penalties imposed. He admitted it will be more difficult to implement the ban than the previous prohibition on smoking in cinemas.

According to a group of pub, hotel and restaurant owners opposed to the ban, the minister's plan will result in additional costs for the State.

Irish Hospitality Industry Alliance spokesman Finbar Murphy said the enforcement would put more pressure on gardaí and the judiciary.

"It is important that the public knows the full cost of what the minister is proposing rather than it being drip-fed out," Mr Murphy said.