Incinerators excluded from smoking ban
This hits home when you consider our proud, modern nation now.
The Government proposes a blanket ban on smoking in pubs. On the surface, the reasoning is the health of our people. All very laudable.
But if you consider the legal aspects of the ban, you get a little closer to the truth. The Government would be sued by thousands of bar workers for not protecting their health. This is what the proposal is all about money because the Government fear legals action if the ban is not introduced.
The health factor makes a fantastic smokescreen (excuse the pun) for Health Minister Micheál Martin, while the rest of the health service deteriorates rapidly. The proposal costs his Government nothing, yet he is hailed as a national hero. Perfect!
Yet Mr Martin's government also endorses the concept of mass incineration. On the surface this time, we're told: "Well, we have to have it because lots of other countries have it."
Scratch beneath this reasoning and, again, you expose the truth money. It would be a quick cop-out for lazy local councils and net the Government millions in corporate taxes and free lunches. Where's the Minister now?
"Unavailable for comment." To put it simply, how stupid is it for the Government to demand a blanket ban on smoking in public while it condones the release of billions of toxins, dioxins and heavy metals into our environment?
Roger Ellis,
13, Westview,
Cobh,
Co Cork.
