Ms Averil Power:

I certainly do agree. We have called for this previously and other countries have taken a lead on it. It is problematic if one walks out a door and the first thing that hits one is a waft of smoke. We know that hospital campuses and universities have done that themselves, while local authorities have introduced regulations around playgrounds and so on but we believe it should be the law. As CEO of the Irish Cancer Society and a former CEO of the Asthma Society of Ireland, I know that this causes huge problems for people with respiratory illnesses like asthma, including me. I cannot eat outside where people are smoking in my face, which was a particular problem during Covid, because it has an immediate impact on my asthma. The indoor ban has been amazing and it is great that we led on that but it is time to make all of our public spaces, including parks, beaches and hospital campuses, smoke-free, safe places for everybody by law.