smoking be banned in the Sessions House.

Chairman of the committee Mr. Ernest DeCouto (UBP) yesterday told the House the committee gave "careful and serious'' consideration to the issue raised in February by Independent MP Mr. Stuart Hayward.

He said: "We are in full agreement that the smoke-free policy in effect in all Government offices should also be implemented inside the Sessions House and respectfully recommend that this Honourable House approve of the implementation of such a policy''.

The committee also recommended that MPs should only be permitted to smoke on the southern verandah of the House when it is sitting.

Mr. DeCouto made the recommendations with committee members Opposition MPs Mr.

Eugene Blakeney , Mr. Walter Lister , and UBP MP Mrs. Grace Bell .

In making the suggestions, they also stressed the following: Smoking constitutes a health hazard to smokers and to those non-smokers inhaling second-hand smoke; Most sections of the Session House are serviced by a central air-conditioning system, and smoke generated in one section of the building can be transmitted to other sections through the air-conditioning ducts; and The exclusion of smoking within the Sessions House would eliminate the risk of a fire being started by an unextinguished cigarette.