10 years after smoking ban, Martin questions Coalition’s commitment

The former health minister who introduced the workplace smoking ban a decade ago has questioned the current Government’s commitment to reducing tobacco use.

Writing in today’s Irish Examiner on the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the ban, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said the 10c hike on a 20-pack of cigarettes in October’s budget was “derisory” against a backdrop of cuts totalling €666m in the health service.

Mr Martin also hit out at the meeting last year between Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers Advisory Committee, which, he said, “ran the risk of suggesting tacit endorsement of the tobacco industry”.