LEGISLATION TO INCREASE the legal age at which tobacco can be bought from 18 to 21 is to be tabled in the Dáil today.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, who brought forward the legislation, will present the Public Health (Tobacco) Amendment Bill 2024 in Leinster House this afternoon.

Cabinet approved the proposed legislation in May. The move is aimed at reducing the number of people who smoke as, though numbers here have fallen, the rate has plateaued and 18% of Irish adults smoke.

It is also designed to deter young people from taking up smoking. According to the Department of Health, smoking continues to kill 4,500 Irish people every year.

The Bill provides that current penalties for anyone convicted of selling tobacco products to people under the age of 18 will be extended to cover convictions relating to sales to people under the age of 21, including fines of up to €4,000 or six months’ imprisonment, or both, for a first offence.

However, if passed, the law won’t take effect until 2028. This is to ensure that those that turned 18 before the Bill comes into effect will not be affected.

Donnelly said the legislation “clearly signals that we are moving to endgame in our war on combustible tobacco”.

“These products are addictive and lethal, killing two out of every three users, reducing life expectancy by an average of 10 years and causing an enormous range of preventable illness and disability,” he said.

Ireland aims to become the first country in the EU to introduce this measure. Latvia has enacted law to raise the minimum age of sale to 20 in 2025.

The legislation will not impact the minimum legal age of sale of vapes or other nicotine inhaling products. The sale of vapes to under 18s has been banned since December and there is currently no proposal to extend this ban to the age of 21.