A history of smoking bans: Ireland and the world

The Republic
1992: a voluntary code is introduced that encourages smoking restrictions in the workplace .
1999: the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children, under rapporteur Alan Shatter, produces a National Anti-Smoking Strategy.
2000: the Tobacco Free Policy Review Group publishes Towards a Tobacco Free Society, which is adopted as government policy.
July 2000: tobacco sponsorship and advertising are completely banned .
2002 : the Office of Tobacco Control is established as a statutory body, with the senior Department of Health civil servant Tom Power as its head .
2002: the Public Health (Tobacco) Act is passed.
2003: in January the Report on the H ealth E ffects of E nvironmental T obacco S moke (ETS) in the W orkplace is published. Health m inister Micheá l Martin announces a complete ban on smoking in the workplace.
March 2004: the Republic is the first country to ban smoking in all workplaces .

Rest of the world
June 2004: Norway becomes the second country to have a workplace ban .
December 2004: New Zealand becomes the third country.
January 2005: Italy becomes the fourth country.
March 2006: Scotland becomes the first country in the UK to introduce the smoke-free legislation.
April 2007: Wales and Northern Ireland follow suit.
July 2007: England goes smoke-free.
January 2008: France bans smoking in public places. Eleven of 16 German states have a workplace smoking ban.
October 2008: India introduces a workplace smoking ban, the largest country in the world to do so to date.
September 2010: workplace smoking ban introduced in Greece, whose inhabitants are Europe's heaviest smokers.
January 2011: Spain introduces a new anti-smoking law which prohibits smoking in public places. The law also bans smoking in playgrounds and access points to schools and hospitals.
December 2011: Brazil implements workplace smoking ban.
July 2014: Russia will implement a national workplace smoking ban.