Is a smoking ban for outdoor food areas up next?

A SMOKING ban in outdoor areas where food is served could be on the way.

The Cabinet yesterday accepted a motion by Fine Gael senators, led by former health minister Dr James Reilly, for ‘killer’ smoke to be eliminated in outdoor premises.

And speaking yesterday on RTÉ’s Today With Seán O’Rourke, Dr Reilly said that the proposal has been put forward to prevent a health risk being posed to non-smokers and to respect their right to ‘enjoy fresh air and their meal’. He added that denormalising the habit in the eyes of children is one of the leading factors behind the move.

However, authoritative sources predicted the proposed measure has ‘no chance’ of becoming law before the next general election.

An official statement by the Taoiseach’s spokesman said the proposal to extend the smoking ban outdoors would be ‘looked at again in the context of implementing the tobacco directive’.

That EU directive is silent on outdoor areas. The timescale for implementation of the tobacco directive can involve piecemeal progress past 2020.

Asked if the proprietors of beer gardens should be worried, the Taoiseach’s spokesman said: ‘Principally it’s about food.’ No decisions have yet been taken, nor are any specifics developed, he indicated.

Asked if music festivals could be affected, he said he had no information on which to ground any such suggestion as no policy specifics had been formulated.

Government sources suggested there was a gap in the law where al fresco dining is provided, but because the area is not enclosed the law currently allows persons to light up after a meal while others may still be dining.

Yesterday, Senator Reilly told RTÉ: ‘No conversation can begin about tobacco without remembering that 6,000 men and women in this country die every year prematurely because of this product and that’s 6,000 families robbed of loved ones,’ he said. ‘We don’t want children thinking this is normal behaviour, that this is a habit that they should even consider taking up.’

The former minister told the show that any future legislation will not prevent restaurant owners from setting up a separate outside food area for smokers.

John Mallon, director of smokers advocacy group Forest, was highly critical of the proposal, pointing out that smoking is not an illegal habit. ‘What a small cabal of antismokers are trying to do is make their [smokers] lives as uncomfortable as possible,’ he told the RTÉ show. ‘Smokers should be allowed to do as they please – they should have free rights like everybody else.’

However, Senator Reilly strongly denied that he is against smokers. ‘I, and many of us in this sector, are not anti-smoker, we are pro giving up smoking and helping smokers, but what we are vehemently opposed to is having our children exposed to this killer habit,’ he explained.