Irish Health Minister Says Public Health Bill Will Be Further Improved to Minimize Youth Vaping

With a law prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes to individuals under 18 years old passed, the Irish Health Minister announced that he will continue to push for further restrictions on e-cigarettes, which will affect adult e-cigarette users and smokers. Stephen Donnelly is pleased with the progress of the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhalation Products) Bill and has instructed his officials to prepare for the implementation of this ban. Minister Donnelly is happy that the provisions in the bill prohibiting the sale of nicotine inhalation products (including e-cigarettes or “vapes”) to individuals under 18 can be in place before Christmas.

The Health Minister said: “I am pleased that this bill has passed both houses of the Oireachtas. It will now be sent to the President for signature, and we are moving towards ensuring that the ban on the sale of nicotine inhalation products, including e-cigarettes, to minors is in place before Christmas.”

“We launched a public consultation on further regulation of e-cigarettes on November 25, 2023. We are seeking opinions on point-of-sale bans, packaging, flavors, and other interventions to reduce the appeal of e-cigarettes to our children. I look forward to the results of the consultation and taking further action to protect our children’s health.”

In addition to prohibiting the sale of nicotine inhalation products to individuals under 18, the current bill will also:

Prohibit the sale of tobacco products and nicotine inhalation products at children’s events

Prohibit self-service (vending machine) sales of tobacco products and nicotine inhalation products

Introduce a strict licensing system for the retail sale of tobacco products and nicotine inhalation products

Prohibit advertising nicotine inhalation products around schools and on public transport

Provide additional enforcement powers for environmental health services for the measures in the bill and all previous tobacco control legislation

Donnelly and Minister of Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy Hildegarde Naughton launched a public consultation on November 25, 2023, “to help shape future regulation of tobacco and nicotine inhalation products (such as e-cigarettes or ‘vapes’).”

Although the direction of the Irish government seems clear, the public consultation will continue until January 5, 2024, regardless of the results of the survey.

“In recent years, e-cigarettes have become increasingly popular, especially among young people. Compared to cigarettes, e-cigarettes may be less harmful, but they are not completely harmless. Most e-liquids contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance,” the statement mentioned.

Their consultation considers what additional measures “may” be introduced “to reduce the appeal of e-cigarettes to children and young people and further de-normalize smoking, improving public health.”

Areas the Irish government plans to strengthen control include:

Display of e-cigarette products and e-liquids in stores

Ban on the sale of e-liquids other than tobacco flavor

Uniform packaging for all e-cigarette products, treating them the same as cigarettes

Prohibition of the “proxy sales” of tobacco and nicotine inhalation products in public outdoor spaces

Extension of smoke-free restrictions to include e-cigarettes

Raising the age for adults to purchase e-cigarette products

Imposing additional taxes on e-cigarette products