Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is huge merit in what Senator Crown has proposed today. I am a reformed smoker, no more than Deputy Kelleher or Senator MacSharry. Many is the day we huddled outside in the rain. Trying to force people to give up cigarettes does not work. The way to do it is to allow people to make a choice. What we should do is to set a date, as Senator Colm Burke has said, and in the interim put a cessation programme in place to help and assist people to get off cigarettes. We must give people the choice and the opportunity to do that. The stick we would use would be a future date for making the Parliament completely smoke-free. I suggest that Senator Crown select a date and we can work on a timetable towards it. We can postpone a division-----