Ireland’s health minister plans to raise the legal smoking age to 21

Ireland's Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has announced his plan to ban smoking in Ireland.
Mr. Donnelly stated that he plans to first raise the legal age for purchasing cigarettes to 21 years old as the first phase of his groundbreaking initiative to make smoking illegal in Ireland.<\/p>

He mentioned in an interview with the Sunday edition of the Irish Mail that his plan “will save many lives.”<\/p>

Read more: National Lottery announces store that sold €500,000 EuroMillions ticket.<\/p>

He hopes to introduce legislation similar to the one recently proposed in the UK, where the Conservative government plans to make it a crime to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009.<\/p>

This means that the legal smoking age will effectively increase every year until it applies to the entire population. The result will be to virtually eliminate smoking among young people by 2040.<\/p>

Fianna Fail's Deputy Donnelly stated that he has asked his officials to prepare some options for the legislation required for his revolutionary plan.
Mr. Donnelly said: “I am considering raising the smoking age. Currently, it is illegal to purchase cigarettes under the age of 18. I believe there is a very strong public health argument for increasing this age. At a minimum, you would consider 21 [but] I think we should be open to further increases.”<\/p>

He added: “It is also possible to keep pace with the UK, at least on an all-island basis.”<\/p>

Mr. Donnelly also revealed that his grandmother died from emphysema caused by smoking, which is not a good situation.
A new law that takes effect this week prohibits the sale of e-cigarette products to people under 18 years old.<\/p>

On Thursday, Health Minister Donnelly implemented Section 28 of the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act, which will prohibit the sale of nicotine inhaling products to people under 18 years old.<\/p>

Anyone violating the new law could face fines of up to €4,000 and/or up to six months in prison.<\/p>

Mr. Donnelly said: “I am committed to implementing this law prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes to people under 18 before Christmas, and I am pleased to be able to do so by signing the effective order.<\/p>

“I thank my colleagues in both houses of the Oireachtas for understanding the urgency for our children and supporting me in quickly passing this law. I also want to thank the officials in my department and the Attorney General's office for their work so that we can implement this ban starting tomorrow.<\/p>

“By 2024, I will begin implementing the remaining measures in the legislation (such as those regarding advertising, licensing systems, and vending machines), and we will review the results of our public consultation on further regulation of e-cigarettes, as well as some innovative tobacco control proposals.”<\/p>