A consultation on a smoking ban will last until September

The party will urge Labour, its coalition partner in the Scottish Executive, to legislate in an effort to tackle Scotland's poor health record.

Labour's Deputy Health Minister Tom McCabe has launched a consultation exercise on smoking in public places.

In a party submission to the review, the Lib Dems will argue that the executive should legislate for a ban.

The party placed heavy emphasis on preventing ill-health in its election manifesto.

If we can do it in Ireland, which has a reputation in the past for smokey pubs, dark caverns, I think the potential for doing it in Scotland is very good Robert Brown Liberal Democrat MSP

However, the move is also partly a challenge to Labour, to stiffen its resolve to act.

The consultation exercise began earlier this month and will run until September.

Mr McCabe said he hoped to see "an active debate raging across Scotland".

And he promised that the executive would not shrink from taking "appropriate action" if enough people argued for a ban.

He said that such a step would make a significant contribution towards reducing the toll which smoking takes on Scottish life.

Ireland and Norway have already moved to stop people lighting up in public places.

Pressure on ministers over smoking is coming from government allies

The Lib Dems' policy convener, Robert Brown MSP, said an across-the-board ban was necessary because a voluntary one had failed.

"An in-between position throws up more problems than it resolves and doesn't move the agenda forward," he told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme.

"I'm bound to say I think that the debate has been very much influenced by the success of the ban, particularly in Ireland, but also in New York and California and other places.

"If we can do it in Ireland, which has a reputation in the past for smokey pubs, dark caverns, I think the potential for doing it in Scotland is very good."

SMOKING - THE STATISTICS About 13,000 people die in Scotland each year from smoking-related illness Smoking costs the NHS �200m a year In 2002 about 1.15 million people in Scotland smoked At least 20 to 25% of all deaths in Scotland result from smoking More than four out of five lung cancer deaths are smoking-related

Smoking remains the biggest cause of preventable premature death and ill health and there is mounting evidence of the health risks of passive smoking.

Experts argue that 30 minutes' exposure is enough to reduce blood flow to the heart.

There will be a number of regional seminars held over the coming months as part of the efforts to bring the issue to people's attention.

The Scottish National Party's Stewart Maxwell has already put forward a bill to bring in a limited ban on smoking where food is being served.