The Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin, yesterday signed a tobacco control convention at UN headquarters that, he hopes, will lead to shock anti-smoking measures in the Republic, such as cigarette packets bearing pictures of cancer-ridden lungs.
Ironically, and to Mr Martin's surprise when it was pointed out to him, he signed the document in the only major building in New York where smoking is still permitted, as the UN does not come under city regulations.
Mr Martin reacted sharply to the opinion poll in Monday's Irish Independent showing waning support for his smoking ban in pubs and restaurants from January 1st.
He was adamant that there would be no compromise, he said in an interview at UN headquarters, but conceded that "there is a challenge there for us in getting the message across. We have to convince the public that this phenomenon actually kills people."
Mr Martin said he had not refused to meet business groups in New York, as the Irish Hospitality Industry Alliance alleged.
Asked about the claim by Mr John Fitzpatrick that there had been a 25 per cent decline in business in the bar of his Lexington Avenue hotel since the New York smoking ban was introduced in May, Mr Martin said policies could not be based on anecdotal evidence.
"The only way you can objectively assess this is with sales figures," he said, adding that, in California and other jurisdictions with smoking bans, business was enhanced over time.
New York health officials told Mr Martin on Monday that, since the ban came into effect, there had been about 10,000 additional jobs in the hospitality trade in New York, seasonally adjusted to 1,500.
They also said that, before the prohibition, 1,200 people were killed every year in New York by environmental tobacco smoke.
Mr Martin was encouraged by the 97 per cent level of compliance recorded in New York and how it was judged by "no-smoking" notices and an absence of ashtrays. The provision of a telephone in bars and restaurants to report smoking infringements was "something which we are contemplating".
Mr Martin said the failure of the 10 health boards in Ireland to appoint tobacco-control directors - because of what he called "an industrial relations quagmire in terms of grading" - would not affect compliance in Ireland.
"They are not the critical posts for this particular function," he said.
The framework Convention on Tobacco Control that Mr Martin signed is still short of the 40 countries needed for ratification. It would stop tobacco companies using hard-sell tactics aimed at teenagers, and require health warnings to include pictures of diseased lungs and gums.
Mr Martin said the day would come when cigarette packets sold in Ireland would carry such pictures, as they now do in Canada.
"Ireland is ahead of the game in that it has already implemented a lot of the proposals" in the convention, Mr Martin said.
"For example, we have a ban on advertising and sponsorship," he added.
What he was doing was not a "popularity exercise" he said.
"Environmental smoking is a cause of cancer. It is the same as exposing workers to asbestos. I genuinely feel I have no choice but to act to protect the health of workers."