The minister told reporters in the parliament that "nothing is a sacred cow" including the public health reform notably in the times of crisis.
Earlier in the day, a bill of amendments to the law on the restrictions of tobacco products use was included in the parliament's agenda.
The changes stipulate a three-year prolongation of time term for the adjustment of bars, cafes and restaurants to the total smoking ban.
The initiative was launched by the guild of cafe and restaurant owners within the national chamber of trades and crafts and supported by the parliamentary committee on tourist trade.
Owners ask that cafes and restaurants up to 50 square metres could decide on their own whether they would opt for being facilities for smokers or for nonsmokers.
Facilities larger than 50 square metres would have physically separated 30 percent of the area for smokers, according to this initiative.
The bill has been sent into regular parliamentary procedure.
The new Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor has recently said that in this difficult economic situation "not a single regulation must be untouchable" referring to a possibility for the revocation of the smoking ban indoors. If a regulation proves to have a negative affect on the economy, we will have to reconsider it, she said then.