Seanad passes Bill outlawing smoking in cars carrying children
The Seanad has today passed a Bill to ban smoking in cars that have children on board.
It has cleared legislation which would extend the workplace smoking ban to any car carrying people under the age of 18.
The new offence will carry fines of up to €1,000.
Health Minister James Reilly has promised to get the legislation passed through the Dáil.
He does not think the new law would create too much extra work for the Gardaí.
"I believe, that in fact, the gardaí will have very little work to do in relation to this," he said.
"I believe it will be self-policing - I think that anyone seeing an adult smoking in a car with a child will take immediate offence, and will make it very clear to the individuals concerned that they're breaking the law, and harming the child."
