Workplace Smoking Ban

Please note that this law only affects the Republic of Ireland. (i.e. Northern Ireland- Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone is excluded)

From March 29th 2004, smoking will be banned from all indoor workplaces, as announced by the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Micheal Martin on 30 January 2003.

The advice from the recent 'Report on the Health Effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (passive Smoking) in the Workplace', commissioned by the Office of Tobacco Control and the Health and Safety Authority, is that exposure to the hazards of tobacco smoke can best be controlled by legislation in places of work.

Exemptions

The following places of work are exempt from prohibition:

• Prisons
• St. Patrick's Institution
• Garda Station detention areas
• Nursing homes
• Hospices
• Religious order homes
• Central Mental Hospital
• Psychiatric hospitals
• Residential areas within third level education institutions
• Hotel, guesthouse and B&B bedrooms