A ballot will gauge opinion on banning smoking in NI pubs

The motion was tabled by SDLP councillor Peter O'Reilly at a meeting on Wednesday.

All but one of the councillors voted in favour of the motion.

Councillors also agreed to implement a proposal by the policy and resources committee to ban smoking on all council premises, including vehicles.

The policy will come into effect in April next year.

The motion called for the secretary of state and health minister to introduce legislation immediately which would ban smoking in all public places within Belfast and across Northern Ireland.

Ulster Unionist councillor Bob Stoker, who is a smoker, questioned how a ban on smoking on council property such as the 10-acre Lady Dixon Park could be enforced.

The cost implications for that would have been somewhere in the region of �1m... I think to spend �1m of ratepayers' money to facilitate people abusing their health is not a good investment Naomi Long Alliance Party councillor

"I mentioned the north foreshore, which is a dump - and the amount of toxic material which is dumped there on a daily basis," he said.

"It is one of the most dangerous places in Belfast, and yet we are proposing to ban smoking in areas like that, which we can't enforce."

In a humorous and lively debate, DUP councillor Sammy Wilson called for the introduction of the "Smoke Police".

He said he wanted designated smoking areas on council properties.

However, Alliance Party councillor Naomi Long said this was "a ridiculous suggestion".

"We were brought a report at the last policy and resources committee in November, which indicated there were really two options available to us as an employer," she said.

"We could either ban smoking from our premises altogether, or we could provide smoking rooms at each of our facilities.

"The cost implications for that would have been somewhere in the region of �1m... I think to spend �1m of ratepayers' money to facilitate people abusing their health is not a good investment."

Peter O'Reilly said he was calling for the government to introduce legislation in relation to smoking and say how that would be implemented.

'All government departments'

"That is the macro issue. The micro issue - how to work out at ground level - is an issue for every employer and employees to have a debate on how that is going to be managed," he said.

"If the body of the motion is respected by the secretary of state and the minister, then I believe they will start the discussion in every establishment throughout Northern Ireland on how to implement the ban on smoking."

In a statement, Health Minister Angela Smith said that in line with Belfast's five year Tobacco Action Plan, all government departments and the NIO, excluding prisons, would become smoke-free from 1 January next year.

We are going to require all bars to have no smoking areas, we are going to get them to have no smoking at the bar and the no smoking areas would be a minimum of 50% where food is being served Nicola Jamison Federation of the Retail Licensed Trade

The minister also said her department was studying the government's recent proposals to control smoking in public places in England and is considering the implications for Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, a ballot begins on Thursday to gauge opinion on banning smoking in pubs.

Both staff and customers will be able to give their views in the survey, which is being supported by the Federation of the Retail Licensed Trade.

The federation's Nicola Jamison said the smoking ban was an emotive debate.

"We are launching a national Northern Ireland ballot to ballot our customers - and more importantly our staff - in each individual premises to find out what they feel," she said.

"At the same time, we are launching the start of no smoking standards in bars across Northern Ireland.

"We are going to require all bars to have no smoking areas, we are going to get them to have no smoking at the bar and the no smoking areas would be a minimum of 50% where food is being served."