LAST UPDATE | 30 May 2023
THE PUNISHMENT FOR selling someone a vape who is under 18 will be a fine of up to €4,000 and six months in prison in new legislation approved by Cabinet today.
For any subsequent offenses, the fine will be a maximum of €5,000 and up to 12 months in prison.
The finalised Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill was brought to Cabinet this morning by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.
The Government’s Bill contains a number of measures in addition to banning the sale of e-cigarettes by or to those aged under 18.
These include:
There is currently no mandatory age restriction on the sale and marketing of e-cigarettes in Ireland.
Under the new rules, the licensing laws will change and a premises will need a license to sell vaping products.
Speaking to reporters today after Cabinet, the health minister said the Government is not looking at an outright ban on vaping products for adults.
The new legislation will protect children and young people, said Donnelly, who added that he would like to see “a strong EU-wide approach” on vaping.
“So we want to see restrictions brought in on flavors. We want to see restrictions brought in on labeling. I certainly would be keen that we keep that under review. Restrictions on point of sale advertising. Every one of us knows when you walk into a petrol station or certain shops now you’re just bombarded with this point of sale advertising,” said Donnelly.
He said the preference is for action to be taken at an EU level, but if it does look the EU are going to take a longer time period, “certainly we will look to bring it in here”.
Donnelly said the Government will keep the approach taken by Australia, which introduced an outright ban on vaping, under review.
The most recently published surveys of Irish school-aged children (the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Survey 2018 and the European Schools Project on Alcohol and other Drugs 2019) show that 9% of 12-to-17-year-olds and 15.5% of 15 and 16-year-olds used electronic cigarettes in the previous 30 days.
An evidence review by the Health Research Board found that children who vaped were five times more likely to go on and start smoking.
The HSE does not currently recommend vaping as a method of quitting smoking. It says that based on evidence thus far, it has found it to be less useful for smoking cessation than nicotine gum or patches.
There are also no e-cigarettes on the market in Ireland authorised by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) as a medication for smoking cessation.
However, the NHS in the UK does recognise e-cigarettes as an aid to smoking cessation. Though it does not prescribe them, it states that nicotine vaping is “substantially less harmful than smoking” and is “one of the most effective tools for quitting smoking”.
“Our research tells us that vaping among adolescents increases the likelihood that they will later smoke. Our Bill is designed to intervene at each phase of the process through which these products are sold,” Donnelly said.
“I am determined to continue to make the necessary legislative changes to confront smoking and vaping and help us all to make the healthy decision for ourselves and our families,” he said.
The sale of e-cigarettes to adolescents is already banned in a number of European countries.
According to the World Health Organization, there are 16,000 different flavours of vapes – such as bubblegum and gummy bears.
Many of the big tobacco companies have also branched out into vaping.
With reporting by Christina Finn
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