Home > Smoke-free spaces on the island of Ireland- Snapshot report 2017.

Purdy, Joanna and McAvoy, Helen and Cotter, Noelle and Mitchell, Elizabeth (2017) Smoke-free spaces on the island of Ireland- Snapshot report 2017. Dublin: Institute of Public Health in Ireland.

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Reducing second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure has become a central component of tobacco control policies across the island of Ireland. The expansion of smoke-free spaces directly reduces exposure of children and adults and further denormalises tobacco use in a variety of social contexts. Challenges remain in terms of persistent health inequalities and significant exposure to SHS in the home, particularly in the context of children. This snapshot report presents a brief overview of progress on the development of smoke-free spaces on the island of Ireland. This snapshot updates on an earlier document published in June 2016.

• Smoke-free legislation in the workplace has been implemented successfully across the island of Ireland. Legislation prohibiting smoking in cars where children are present has been in place in RoI since January 2016, with similar measures proposed for NI.
• In RoI 19% of all children aged 10-17 years were exposed to SHS in the car (Gavin et al, 2015).
• Among children aged 11-16 years who reported that they lived with an adult smoker in NI, 3 in 10 reported that smoking was permitted in the family car (YPBAS, 2013).
• In NI among households who own a car, 85% of adults reported smoking is not permitted in any car. Of adults in the most deprived quintile, 51% reported that smoking is not permitted in any car, compared to 81% in the least deprived quintile (HSNI, 2016).
• In 2007/08 in NI 61% of adults reported that smoking was not permitted in the home, increasing to 80% in 2015/16 (CHS, 2007/08 and HSNI, 2016).
• In NI, over half of children aged 11-16 years in the most deprived areas lived with an adult smoker. Children living in the most deprived areas were more than twice as likely to live with a smoker compared to children living in the least deprived areas (57.9% vs 25.2%) (YPBAS, 2013).
• In RoI 18% of the population aged 15+ was exposed to SHS on a daily basis. SHS exposure was highest among those aged15-24 years (28%). Non-smokers in more deprived areas were more likely to be exposed to SHS than those in more affluent areas (Department of Health, 2016b).
• In RoI there were slightly stricter rules around smoking in the home, compared to the family car, with pre-teen children more protected than teenagers. 12% of 10-17 year old children reported that adults were allowed to smoke in their house (Gavin et al, 2015).
• In RoI more than twice as many 9 year olds living in families in the lowest income quintile (32.7%) were exposed to SHS in the home compared to children in families in the highest quintile (14%) (McAvoy et al, 2013).


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