Republic of Ireland Ireland became the first country to enact a
comprehensive nation-wide smoke-free law in 2004. The ITC
project has been able to monitor the effects of that law on
reactions and perceptions of smokers, and will continue to
report on the effectiveness of new tobacco control policies as
they are implemented. The Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control was signed and ratified on September 16, 2003, and
November 7, 2005, respectively. |Population (2006
estimate)||4,062,235| |Life expectancy (2002 estimate)||Males:
75 years, Females: 81 years| |Healthy life expectancy (2002
estimate)||Males: 68.1 years, Females: 71.5 years| |Ethnic
groups||Celtic, English| |GDP per capita (2004)||$36, 371|
|Median age||34 years| Smoking Prevalence and Associated Costs:
- Cigarette smoking is the most common form of tobacco use in
Ireland. - Smoking prevalence for both sexes have been declining
since the 1980s, and stood in 2004 at 24%. This is down from 29%
in 1994, which was already brought down from 35% in 1980