Letter to the editor.

It is alarming that a number of publicans and their representatives continue to vociferously advocate the abolition, or at least partial roll-back of the workplace smoking ban introduced under provisions of the Public Health (Tobacco) Acts, 2002 & 2004 on 29th March 2004. 1 This ban probably represents the most significant single action to improve population health in Ireland over the last decade. It is imperative therefore that complacency in health circles cannot be allowed to threaten the continuation of this ban, which continues to be contested. Presented below are results from a survey conducted in May 2005 that indicate continuing overwhelming support among parents for the smoking ban.

This research was one element of a wider study examining health problems and behaviours among National School children in the Mid-West region. Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Ethics Research Committee of the Regional General Hospital, Health Services Executive- Mid-Western Area.

A stratified random sample of 50 National Schools in the Mid-West region were approached to take part in this research. 43 schools agreed and were able to participate. 1014 parents/ guardians responded to the parent questionnaire representing a response rate from all 50 schools of 61.8%. 13.7% of respondents were male, while 86.3% were female. 26% of respondents reported that they smoked.

Results show that support for the ban among parents was overwhelming, with 88.2% stating that they either strongly agreed or agreed with the ban. A further 6.0% indicated that they neither agreed nor disagreed with it. Just 5.8% of respondents stated that they either disagreed or disagreed strongly with the smoking ban.....