The Government's White Paper on public health is likely to have a profound impact on the pub, nightclub and club market. It looks to me as though the proposed exemptions to a ban on smoking in public spaces are ill-considered and give rise to a number of iniquities that will concern the leisure industry.

The bill's biggest impact will be on the pub market, with pubs not serving food exempt from the ban. In the high street, many operators offer food principally as a means of attracting custom in order to sell alcohol, but by doing so they increase their staff costs and reduce their profit margins.

In Dublin, the introduction of a smoking ban has led to a drop in turnover in bars of more than 10%. Why should operators keep their food offer if turnover is likely to fall as a result? Why not drop the food offer and reposition the business to attract smokers, resulting in more sales and better margins?

Venues without a food offer provide a much more intense drinking environment - exactly the kind of sites the Government has been trying to clamp down on in its anti-binge-drinking and law-and-order policies. I fear the proposals could inadvertently lead to the promotion of larger intense-drinking venues and thus promote binge-drinking.

The proposals exclude private members' clubs from the ban, a move which appears to be primarily politically motivated and seems to lead to some absurd consequences. The principal objective of the proposed legislation is to protect the health of bar staff. Why should bar staff in high-street pubs be protected while those in private members' clubs and nightclubs are not? When the first bar staff claim compensation having contracted lung disease as a result of their employment conditions, private members' clubs will be thrust into the front line ahead of the major corporates. Is this really what the Government wants?

We can't be certain yet that everything in the White Paper will become law - take a look at how the proposed Gaming Act has changed over the last few weeks. But operators need to be aware how they might respond to the changes when they complete their applications for the new Licensing Act.

Any subsequent change in the style of your business could require a variation in your premises licence, which could affect your "grandfather rights" [existing terms and restrictions].

You will need to be on your toes to respond to these changes in order not to lose ground to competitors. I can't help thinking that, given the inevitability of anti-smoking legislation, a blanket ban might ultimately have been more desirable.