The HSE is stepping up its campaign to stop shops selling tobacco to minors and plans to "name and shame" businesses flouting the smoking ban.
Yesterday, the HSE published the first of its quarterly reports revealing 11 convictions were secured between January and March for smoking-related offences — with seven in Donegal.
Eight of the 11 convictions related to smoking in the workplace, typically a pub, while three related to selling tobacco to minors.
In one case involving an unnamed premises in Mullinahone, Co Tipperary, the offence resulted in a fine of €1,600 and costs of €1,921 to the HSE as well as removal from the register of tobacco retailers for two months. The maximum amount of time a business can be banned from selling tobacco is three months.
In the decade since the introduction of the Section 47 laws in 2004, a total of 251 prosecutions have been taken by the HSE, resulting in 263 convictions.
The HSE said that in recent years, more than half of all prosecutions related to smoking areas in licensed premises, and that “a number of owners and proprietors have been prosecuted and convicted on multiple occasions”.
Source: Noel Baker, Irish Examiner, 06/06/14
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