The Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin, dropped by New York City Hall yesterday to discuss his proposed smoking ban with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and came away with ideas for a possible new health drive in Ireland - against obesity.
Mr Bloomberg told him how obesity, particularly among children, has become a major issue in New York.
"The figure is one in five kindergarten kids are obese," Mr Martin said. "That's very high."
The New York mayor explained to the Minister how he had introduced a new programme in public schools to rectify obesity by moving to a diet more focused on fruit and vegetables.
Mr Martin said he was particularly concerned about a similar problem of obesity arising in Ireland.
"Our own national lifestyle survey has shown that the warnings are there in terms of obesity in Ireland now as well, not to the same extent as here, but the future is in America, if you like." Ireland, too, needed to change direction of public education, particularly focusing on children, he said.
In his discussions with Mr Bloomberg, he said he was interested to learn that prisons were not exempted from the smoking ban in New York. Mr Martin said that he was still open to discussing exemptions for prisons and mental homes, but "there would be no other exemptions in Ireland, that would be the height of it".
Mayor Bloomberg assured him that the smoking ban had not cost jobs in the hospitality trade in New York since its introduction in May, saying that "month after month jobs are going up in New York city in terms of the hospitality trade".
On Tuesday, Mr Martin visited O'Neill's Bar on 3rd Avenue. The owner, Mr Ciarán Staunton, has been prominent in the campaign against the New York smoking ban. Mr Martin said he had found O'Neill's busy with lunchtime customers, but Mr Staunton said he had lost 20 per cent of his business, mainly due to a fall-off in the number of customers who came in during the cocktail hour on their way home from work.
"If he [Mr Martin] had come this time last year, there would have been five waiters, two bartenders and a hostess," Mr Staunton said yesterday. "Now I have four waiters, one bartender and no hostess."
Mr Martin was confident, from his observations in New York, that the ban was not having a dramatic negative impact on business. "Maybe certain segments were suffering. That will always happen," he said.
"I am leaving New York with a genuine sense that the world doesn't collapse when this happens. Also it's a very pleasant experience to sit and dine in a place where there is no smoke."
Today Mr Martin will meet the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mr Tommy Thompson, in Washington.