I heard Minister for Health, Micheal Martin, on RTE news yesterday being interviewed by Sean O'Rourke. When O'Rourke asked him about a possible threat to jobs in pubs & restaurants due to the smoking ban, the Minister cited the NYC experience of an increase in jobs in the hospitality sector in NYC from the spring of 2002 to spring this year despite the imposition of a smoking ban.
I was really hoping O'Rourke would have said something along the lines of, "I'm sure that's true Minister, but New York City's hospitality sector was devestated by the Sep 11, 2001 attacks and was still at its ebb in the spring of 2002. An increase was anticipated regardless of the new laws on smoking. The employment levels are not yet what they were in the spring of 2001."
