Vaping is the “revenge of the tobacco industry”, Taoiseach Simon Harris said on Tuesday as the Government approved plans to restrict single-use vapes.
Proposals brought to Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly would also restrict the sale of flavoured vapes, regarded as appealing to children, as well as for a banning point-of-sale advertising displays in shops other than specialised outlets selling only sell vapes.
Mr Harris said the move was required to tackle the number of young people taking up vaping.
“We live in a country where around 13 per cent of people between the ages of 12 and 17 have vaped in the last 30 days. We need to take action in relation to that,” he said ahead of the meeting. “I’ve said for a long time – I said when I was health minister, I believe it as Taoiseach, that vaping is the revenge of the tobacco industry.”
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Mr Donnelly said the proposals are aimed at protecting children, who he believed were “very cynically” targeting children. The proposed legislation, he said, would see just one flavour, tobacco, being sold.
“There’s over 15,000 flavours. We know some of them are targeted at children,” he said. “We know a lot of the colouring and the packaging is targeted at children and young people.
“We’re moving down to one flavour, but that can be increased by a minister through secondary legislation,” he said. “A ban on some of the colour around the packaging and the products themselves, restrictions on point of sale as well.”
Mr Donnelly said that if a general election is held in March, as has been touted by Coalition leaders, his department would be “certainly pushed” to have the Bill in question fully drafted.
Tánaiste Michéal Martin also spoke in support of the proposed ban. “We really need to protect younger people, in particular, from the harmful effects of vaping.”
Minister of State for Public Health Colm Burke said there needs to be a change to the way in which nicotine-inhaling products are sold.
He told Newstalk that 18 per cent of 15- to 24-year-olds “regularly use nicotine-inhaling products” and there needs to be a change.
Mr Burke said the reasoning behind the regulations was that many people who used vaping products subsequently moved on to smoking. He said Ireland was one of a number of countries in Europe introducing such regulations
It was important to come up with a response as Ireland had done when it introduced the smoking ban, he said, adding that the regulations would involve serious restrictions, but these were “not going to come in overnight”.
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