Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Hildegarde Naughton):  
I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I am pleased to be here on behalf of the Minister for Health to introduce the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill to this House. The primary objective of the Bill is to reduce the health harms of smoking through reducing the use of tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products, especially by young people. The Bill will achieve these objectives through the introduction of a licensing system for the retail sale of these products, restrictions on sale and advertising, and strengthening the powers of the enforcement authority, namely, the environmental health service of the HSE.

Tobacco smoking is addictive and lethal. There is scientific consensus that smoking kills one out of every two smokers. According to international analysis, smoking is the risk factor that drives the most death and disability combined in Ireland. Our own data tells us it kills more than 12 of our people every day, or 4,500 per year. In addition to the death toll, combustible tobacco products also cause a vast range of illnesses, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peripheral arterial disease, diabetes, aneurysms, stroke and 16 types of cancer. The World Health Organization has estimated 14% of Alzheimer's disease cases worldwide are attributable to smoking. Smoking during childhood and adolescence also causes both reduced lung function and impaired lung growth.

There remains an absence of scientific consensus on the health harms of nicotine inhaling products such as e-cigarettes. What is generally agreed is that nicotine inhaling products are not harmless, that it is likely that they are less harmful than tobacco cigarettes and that further research is needed to establish possible long-term health effects. The Health Research Board reviewed the evidence on e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco products in October 2020. Its main findings were that: e-cigarettes are not harmless but may represent a reduction in harm relative to smoking; more research is needed to establish the long-term health effects of e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco products; e-cigarette use is associated with an increased likelihood of smoking in adolescents; and e-cigarettes are as effective as approved nicotine replacement therapies for smoking cessation at six months. More research is needed to establish their safety and effectiveness in the longer term. Since July 2014 the World Health Organization has recommended sales of e-cigarettes to minors be prohibited as there is sufficient evidence of the potential for adolescent nicotine exposure to have long-term consequences for brain development. In addition, and as confirmed by the Health Research Board evidence, such a prohibition would prevent minors from becoming exposed to nicotine with the risk that this may act as a gateway to the use of tobacco products.

We have made good progress in reducing our smoking rates from the very high levels in the past but there is still much to do. The 2022 Healthy Ireland survey data tells us 18% of our adult population smoke, with 14% smoking daily and 4% smoking occasionally. Our latest Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey from 2018, shows 5% of children aged between ten and 17 years smoke monthly or more frequently and 11% have smoked at least once. Usage of e-cigarettes among adults was 6% in 2022, according to the Healthy Ireland survey, with 3% daily use and 3% occasional use. Among children, the 2018 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey showed 9% had used an e-cigarette within the last 30 days and 22% had tried one at some point....

Deputy Róisín Shortall - While I welcome the restrictions at events aimed at children, near schools, on public transport and in cinemas - which are the minimum I expect - an outright advertising ban is needed. The advertising provisions of this Bill amount to little more than tinkering around the edges. The real battleground is online. In January, the Health Research Board highlighted a study conducted by Leah Nolan, a transition year student at Loreto Secondary School in County Cork. Her winning entry to the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2023 investigated the impact of social media on adolescents' attitudes to vaping. After designing and piloting a detailed survey, Leah sent it to all 728 secondary schools in Ireland and received more than 2,000 responses. According to her survey, 36% of all respondents were tempted by or curious about trying vapes after hearing a content creator or influencer talk about them. That is a striking figure, but it will come as no surprise to teenagers and their parents. Despite assurances that vaping advertising is heavily restricted online, the hashtag "#vape" has more than 10 billion views on TikTok. This highly effective use of hashtags has been described as stealth marketing by advocates of tighter regulation. In a submission to the Joint Committee on Health, one 17-year-old called for an outright ban on all vaping advertisements. She said they were misleading as they present only positive images of vaping as cool and fashionable and omit the negative health impacts. That is from a 17-year-old. I would have expected Ministers and the Department of Health to be aware of that. Clearly these teenagers are ahead of the Government when it comes to the impact of vaping advertising.....

[For the full debate, click this link to the Oireachtas website]

Also see resumed debate.

Deputy Martin Browne: I hope the effectiveness of this Bill will be reviewed in the near future, and regularly, so that we do not face another scenario where new ways are found to sell nicotine products to children. It would be useful to have regular reviews of this Bill so that, as legislators, we can keep on top of this matter and ensure situations in which children can buy products which contain nicotine is never repeated.

We must ensure the measures provided for in this Bill are effective, and any issues which need to be addressed are identified quickly and acted on. It is disheartening to see that since the progress in reducing the level of nicotine use, we now see its uptake has increased among younger cohorts. Previous use of vaping products has been cited as a factor in this. Therefore, it is incumbent on us, as legislators, to remain vigilant. A statutory review of the legislation in the near future is vital. Sinn Féin is calling for this to be included in the Bill.

I am interested to know what measures will be taken to examine the nature of these products. We are aware of instances in which the nicotine level of some of these products differs from the levels advertised on the pack. Will the Minister of State comment on why a ban on flavoured vaping products has been omitted from the Bill?

While not everyone who vapes will subsequently smoke, it would be preferable if nobody at all smoked. The flavoured aspect of vaping products is an enticement to give it a try and should be addressed. Packaging, especially brightly coloured packaging, can also be connected to this. Again, this serves to attract a person, especially a younger person, to the product. I would like to hear the Minister of State’s thoughts on this.

Finally, I want to talk about the usefulness of vaping as a way to give up smoking. While there may be some credibility to that, we must see more being done to make smoking cessation supports more available and accessible so that vaping does not become the addiction. I cannot stress this enough. Education and accessible support structures that do not involve the need to pay for a prescription or other such outlay is vital if we are to rid this country of nicotine addiction.

[For the full debate, click this link to the Oireachtas website]