A lobby group representing the rights of Irish smokers has said a ban on smoking in cars carrying children would have little positive effect.

Forest Éireann’s claim follows a UCD study which found that the proportion of drivers who smoke in their cars is far lower than the proportion of the adult population who smoke.

UCD’s study, published in this month’s Irish Medical Journal and reported in today’s Irish Independent, says that an observation of 2,230 drivers found that just 31 drivers – 1.39 per cent – were smoking while driving.....