It’s time to ban smoking in cars with children in Northern Ireland

Whilst it is illegal to smoke in cars with children in most of the UK, Northern Ireland remains the only nation, where it is still legal to do so. Joseph Carter, our Head of Devolved Nations, explains the problem and why smoking around children is so dangerous.

The Northern Ireland Assembly initially voted in favour of banning smoking in cars where children are present back in 2016, after a rigorous debate. However, plans to introduce new rules to do this was stalled when the power-sharing agreement collapsed.

When the power-sharing government was restored in 2019, it was once again promised that these new regulations would be forthcoming. Unfortunately, COVID-19 intervened and nothing has moved forward in the 18 months since.

We think the time is right to ban smoking in cars with children, once and for all.

What’s the problem?

Whether you’re smoking yourself, or breathing in someone else’s smoke, you’re at risk of asthma symptoms and an asthma attack.

And if you smoke or you’re around cigarette smoke a lot you’ll have more symptoms and need more medicines to keep on top of your asthma.

Second-hand smoke in children can increase the risk of developing asthma and having asthma attacks. In babies, it is also linked to cot death.

Smoking in a car can create pollution levels 35 times greater than those deemed safe by the World Health Organisation.

What are we doing?

In January, a group of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) joined Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation for a meeting of the All-Party Group on Lung Health to discuss the challenges of smoking in Northern Ireland and the need for a new smoking and nicotine policy.

The current 10 year Tobacco Control Strategy was launched in 2012 with an objective of fewer people starting to smoke; more smokers quitting; and protecting people from tobacco smoke.

We learned that the Department of Health set a target of less than 15% of adults smoking by 2022 and this should be met. In 2021/21 smoking prevalence was still at 17%.

Stop Smoking Northern Ireland supports between 10,000 and 15,000 people each year. They work with pharmacies to support people in their communities with 67% of people who quit last year using nicotine replacement therapy. Since COVID they have had to adapt to virtual support, videos, and their website, but people are still engaging with services.

Where the Tobacco Control Strategy is failing is that we haven’t seen the bans on smoking in public places that the rest of the UK have seen, and smoking in cars with children is sadly still legal.

Next steps

We are calling on the Minister for Health, Robin Swann MLA, to introduce the regulations to ban smoking in cars with children. This is a fairly simple procedure and is only enacting the law that was originally passed in 2016. Through our All Party Group on Lung Health we can see that there is cross-party support to tackle this danger to our children’s health. We will keep campaigning and increasing the pressure on the Department of Health until children are protected once and for all.

To learn more about smoking and asthma, please visit our website.

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