Smoking fines add €1.5m to state coffers over last decade

Since 2015, police have issued 17,624 fines for smoking in prohibited areas, ranging from €85 to €2,000 each, adding over €1.5 million to state coffers.

The police, however, have been complaining for years that this adds to their workload and, according to the law, other departments could do the job, thus freeing the force to deal with real police work.

Data available till June 2024 show that most cases of smoking were reported in pubs, bars and nightclubs.

In 2020 and 2021...