آئرلینڈ میں عوامی مقامات اور دفاتر میں سگریٹ نوشی پر پابند عائد کیے جانے کے بعد سگریٹ کی فروخت میں کافی کمی ہوئی ہے۔ نئے اعداد و شمار کے مطابق پابندی کے چھ ماہ کے اندر سگریٹ نوشوں نے ڈھائی لاکھ کم سگریٹ پی۔ جیمز ہیم کی رپورٹ:

خبر کو سنئیے

Ireland's smoking ban came in at the end of March this year and its impact is being demonstrated. Figures from Gallaher, the manufacturer of big, well known brands, and which holds a fifty percent market share in Ireland, show it sold two hundred and sixty million fewer cigarettes between January and June. Total sales in the country shrank by around seven and a half percent. The company blames duty increases as well as the effect of the smoking ban.

The Irish health minister Michael Martin welcomed the drop in sales, saying that the less people smoke, the better it is for the nation's health. He hopes that the ban will encourage more smokers to either give up, or to smoke less.

The ban continues to be criticised by many bar owners who say it's costing them business. But politicians outside Ireland are also watching its experience closely. Last week, Scotland's first minister visited Dublin to see for himself how the ban is going.

A possible downside, though, for the Irish government is that tax revenue from tobacco sales is predicted to fall by almost one hundred million dollars this year.

James Helm, BBC, Dublin

الفاظ کو سنئیے

impact
اثر

brands
برانڈ

total sales
کل فروخت

shrank
کم ہوگئے، کمی آئی

duty increases
ٹیکس، محصول میں اضافہ

drop in sales
(سگریٹ کی) فروخت میں کمی

it?s costing them business
اس کا بزنس پر برا اثر پڑا ہے

downside
نقصان، منفی اثر

revenue
(محصول سے حکومت کی) آمدنی