The Taoiseach has told the Dáil that new legislation will be introduced to cover implementation of the proposed smoking ban in workplaces outside the hospitality sector.
Mr Ahern said the finalised exemptions to the ban would now be notified to the EU tomorrow.
The cabinet discussed the smoking ban this morning, and legal consultations on the details continued throughout the day.
Exemptions to the measure will now be prisons, outdoor workplaces, psychiatric hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, sleeping accommodation in hotels, Bed and Breakfasts, guest houses, hostels and the Central Mental Hospital.
A further complication arose tonight when the Taoiseach told the Dail that fresh legislation would be required to cover the policing of the ban.
He said that the Attorney General's advice was that the current Health and Safety Act might not cover the banning of tobacco in the workplace.
Consequently primary legislation would have to be intorduced to allow enforcement across the board by Health and Safety as well as Environmental Health officers.
Labour's Liz McManus questioned why this was not done earlier.
However, Government sources insisted tonight that the legislation would be in place by February when the ban begins to operate, and that its introduction would not have to be phased.
