Councils 'soft over smoking ban'

The smoking ban came into effect last year

An assembly member has said some councils in Northern Ireland must drop their "softly, softly" approach to people smoking in public places.

Simon Hamilton said since the ban was brought in on 30 April 2007 there have been "widely different approaches" to enforcement by local councils.

While Castlereagh Borough Council detected 185 cases up to 31 March 2008, Dungannon Borough Council had none.

Two people in NI have been prosecuted for smoking in a smoke-free place.

During the same period, from 30 April 2007 until 31 March 2008, 350 written warnings and 34 fixed penalty notices were issued.

"The figures, revealed to me by the health minister (Michael McGimpsey), would suggest that even at this early stage, there are widely different approaches to the enforcement of the smoking ban across Northern Ireland," Mr Hamilton said.

"I simply cannot believe that in one area, there were no breaches of the ban at all in the last year."

The Strangford DUP assembly member said the law must be implemented.

"Whenever the smoking ban was introduced, it was almost universally welcomed, even by many smokers, as a good piece of legislation.

"As experience shows us, it isn't good enough to have a sensible law if it isn't implemented robustly," he said.

Recorded incidents of smoking in a public place:

Antrim Borough Council 25

Ards Borough Council 52

Armagh City & District Council 17

Ballymena Borough Council 63

Ballymoney Borough Council 3

Banbridge District Council 41

Belfast City Council 19

Carrickfergus borough Council 11

Castlereagh Borough Council 185

Coleraine Borough Council 11

Cookstown District Council 8

Craigavon Borough Council 55

Derry City Council 75

Down District Council 49

Dungannon & South Tyrone Borough Council 0

Fermanagh District Council 18

Larne Borough Council 5

Limavady Borough Council 54

Lisburn City Council 83

Magherafelt District Council 27

Moyle District Council 16

Newry & Mourne District Council 35

Newtownabbey Borough Council 8

North Down Borough Council 85

Omagh District Council 39

Strabane District Council 55

Total: 1,039