The Royal Victoria Hospital is planning at least seven smoking rooms

Northern Ireland's biggest hospital trust intends to spend �500,000 on the rooms for patients and staff.

The trust intends to establish seven rooms, one on each floor of the new building.

But Gerry McElwee of the Ulster Cancer Foundation, said the decision was "very disappointing".

"If we were treating people suffering from addiction to alcohol, we would not give them a bar or even seven bars, we would help them to deal with their addiction," Mr McElwee said.

"We feel this building should be a new flagship centre but it is flying in the face of logic, which is seeing smoking rooms in older buildings being phased out.

My gut feeling is that a hospital should be a smoking free area Dr Joe Hendron SDLP

"Smoking is the number one health issue facing Northern Ireland but this move gives the message it is okay to continue," he added.

Andrew Dougal of the Chest, Heart and Stroke Association, said the plans constitued "an abject failure by the Royal Hospitals Trust to persuade people to quit the smoking habit".

SDLP assembly member Dr Joe Hendron said the move sent out a wrong signal at a time when the health authorities should be encouraging people to stop smoking.

"My own gut feeling is that a hospital should be a smoking free area.

"If you have special smoking rooms for those who have extreme addictions, others will say: 'I may as well have a smoke.'

"Overall, I would be absolutely opposed to it," he said.

However, Christine Burns, Director of Facilities at the RVH, said it was a fact that people smoked in hospitals.

"As we know only too well, people smoke in hospitals.

"They don't leave their cigarettes and matchboxes at home when they come here, either as a visitor, a patient or a member of staff."

The Chief Medical Officer said the plans stemmed from tobacco addition.

Dr Etta Campbell said she did not believe this type of spending was a good use of public money, but insisted that there were safety issues for both staff and patients.

"I do not believe it is a good use of public money, but 30% of people in Northern Ireland are addicted to tobacco," Dr Campbell said.

"Patients and, indeed, visitors often resolutely refuse to stop smoking when they come into hospital.

"As you will see as you walk along our hospital wards, they smoke in inappropriate and often very dangerous places.

"I think it is important that we protect patients and staff from the consequences of that type of tobacco smoke.

"But clearly we would want no-one to smoke in a hospital environment."