SELLING NICOTINE-INHALING products like vapes at events aimed at children will carry a €2,000 on-the-spot fine under new legislation.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has signed a law to apply the fine to the offence of selling tobacco products or nicotine-inhaling products at events aimed at children or where the majority of the participants or audience are children. 

The measure under the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act 2023, which was commenced in March, is intended to strengthen the regulation of nicotine-inhaling products and to help efforts to eliminate the use of tobacco products.

In a statement this morning, Donnelly he said that there is an urgency to these measures because of the health risk posed by the products.

“I welcome the coming into operation of further provisions of our 2023 Act. I am developing new tobacco control law, bringing law through the Houses and implementing law that has already passed,” the minister said.

“The urgency is to save lives that are being lost because of a common commercial product that kills,” he said.

“I am determined to help smokers to quit, to prevent new smokers being created through experimentation with tobacco products or nicotine inhaling products and to use every means at my disposal to protect the health of our population and especially of our children.”

Last week, the government approved the drafting of the Public Health (Nicotine Inhaling Products) bill, which will regulate packaging, flavours and retail display of vaping products and ban single-use or disposable vapes.

Donnelly is also expected to bring the Public Health (Tobacco) Amendment Bill through the Dáil in the coming weeks, which would make Ireland the first country in the EU to set a minimum legal age of 21 for the sale of tobacco products.