Madam, - The "Irish Hospitality Industry Alliance" has garnered extensive media coverage for the claim that the complete ban on smoking in hotels, restaurants and pubs imposed in New York City on April 1st last had reduced business by 30 per cent, and by inference that Ireland would lose 60,000 jobs in the industry.
None of the reports that I have read or heard includes the source of these estimates.
The Roswell Park Cancer Institute, in a large survey published last month, showed that the New York smoking ban had had no impact on business. It used figures on employment and salaries in the hotel and catering industries in New York. This result is entirely consistent with the results of 18 other studies conducted in the United States and Australia. By contrast the only source for the Irish Hospitality Industry Alliance claim that I can identify is a survey of 50 New York City establishments reported in the New York Post on May 12th.
The most likely results of the proposed ban here are a slight increase in business for the industry, and a dramatic reduction in the very high death rates of bar staff.
Micheál Martin's courageous and intelligent proposals should attract support from all reasonable people.
Dr ANTHONY STAINES,
Senior Lecturer in
Epidemiology,
Department of Public Health
Medicine and Epidemiology,
University College Dublin,
Earlsfort Terrace,
Dublin 2
Madam, - The Irish Hospitality Industry Alliance's claim that 65,000 jobs could be lost by the proposed smoking ban in pubs (July 22nd) is a laughable one.
The last year figures are available for is 1996, but at that point there were 148,377 people employed as service workers, according to the web site of the Central Statistics Office.
Even if a little less than half of the people in the service industry work in pubs - which seems somewhat improbable - the IHIA seems to be predicting the closure of every pub in the State.
Not very likely, I think. - Yours, etc.,
RICHARD BANNISTER,
The Windmill,
Sir John Rogerson's Quay,
Dublin 2