Smoking ban 'may lead to fewer bar staff'

Irish publicans and hoteliers are expressing concerns at research from New York which shows a 10% drop in bar and waiting staff jobs since the introduction of a smoking ban.

It was based on a survey of 300 bars, hotels and cocktail lounges in New York City and State.

Irish Vintners and the Hotels Federation claim the research provides proof of the negative impact on the hospitality sector.

But Jo Ann Landers who is the director of the tobacco control programme in Boston where a smoking ban was also introduced this year, is rubbishing the economic argument against a ban.