A TOTAL OF 278 people have been convicted for smoking in an enclosed workplace, selling tobacco to minors, and similar offences, since the workplace smoking ban was implemented in March 2004.
There were 25 convictions so far this year under the Public Health (Tobacco) Act , according to figures released by the HSE today.
From January to September, 15 of these had to do with smoking in pubs, nightclubs and hotels.
These were violations of Section 47 of the Tobacco Act, which makes it illegal to smoke in an enclosed workplace, and made Ireland the first country to introduce such a ban, a decade ago.
The county with the most convictions for smoking indoors this year has been Donegal, where five people were fined for violating the ban.
Dublin, Cavan and Longford had two convictions, and there was one each in Tipperary, Monaghan, Meath and Westmeath.
The Tobacco Act also makes it illegal for licensed premises and shops to sell tobacco to anyone under 18 (Section 45), and require them to register to sell tobacco (Section 37).
Section 46 of the Act obliges pubs, hotels and restaurants to have a sign up notifying customers that it’s illegal to smoke there.
Taking all these tobacco-related offences into account, Donegal has had 9 convictions so far this year, accounting for more than one-third of the entire country.
Dublin, Cavan and Longford saw three convictions each, and Louth had two.
Meath, Westmeath, Wexford, Tipperary, and Monaghan had one each.
HSE figures obtained by TheJournal.ie show that the West region has had the most convictions for workplace smoking, over the last four years.
From 2011 until September 2014, there were 82 convictions nationwide under Section 47 of the Act.
36 of these were in the HSE’s West region, 23 in the Dublin/North-east region, 15 in the South, and just 8 in Dublin/Mid-Leinster.
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