Sections 1 to 10, inclusive, agreed to.

SECTION 11

Amendment No. 1 not moved.

Section 11 agreed to.

Sections 12 to 30, inclusive, agreed to.

SECTION 31

Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee I move amendment No. 2:

In page 20, lines 28 to 33, to delete all words from and including "(1) Subject" in line 28 down to and including line 33 and substitute the following

"It shall be an offence for a person to advertise a nicotine inhaling product in a cinema."

This is a very important amendment from my two colleagues. I am sure everyone agrees that it makes sense. The cinema is a place where we should not be bombarded with vaping advertisements. I hope the Minister will consider accepting this amendment.

Stephen Donnelly, Minister for Health: I thank the Senators for tabling the amendment, which is a prohibition on the advertisement of nicotine inhaling products in the cinema. It is designed to remove the exemption for films that are directed at persons over 18 years of age. The prohibition was modelled on a similar provision in the Public Health (Alcohol) Act, which contains an exemption for films classified for persons over 18. At this time the evidence does not suggest that nicotine inhaling products are more harmful to health than alcohol, although obviously that is something we will keep under very close review

In addition, I am absolutely determined to eliminate the uptake of nicotine inhaling products by children and minors, those under 18. I recognise that some adults use e-cigarettes to quit smoking. Our recently published survey shows some useful information on that. If I were to accept this amendment, it would require notification to the European Union under the technical standards directive, which would incur a three-month delay, or possibly a six-month delay, to the enactment of the Bill.

What I would say to the two Senators who have tabled the amendment is that I applaud the direction of travel they are going in, which is to restrict advertising on these products. We all know that plenty of people under 18 attend movies that are rated over 18. I fully appreciate the intent of the Senators but what we do not want to do is delay the Bill for three months or six months, based on the European processes. We have opened a public consultation on all aspects of this measure. I will return with a second Bill next year and that might be somewhere this measure could be looked at.

Senator Seán Kyne: My point is somewhat irrelevant to this amendment but it is relevant to advertising. In a lot of period movies or those set in the early part of the last century, westerns or whatever else, there appears to be product placement. I wonder if there is evidence of involvement or investment by the tobacco industry in some of these films or dramas. Is that being looked at or discussed on a European basis as well? I will not name any films or dramas but in those set in the 1950s it is commonplace to see people smoking. We also seem to be seeing a lot of it now on modern television.

Senator Victor Boyhan: There are only four amendments for us to consider, which says something about the Bill, although it depends where one is coming from. I listened to the Minister's response to  Senator Clifford-Lee. Am I to take it that, in principle, he is in favour of this amendment? He explained his point about the measure delaying the Bill. That is fair enough, but will the Minister be proactive in reintroducing this measure in future legislation? He talked about another Bill that he might be able to work it into? Is the Minister in support of the central theme of this amendment? He might just clarify that for me.

Deputy Stephen Donnelly: I thank Senators for the points they made. With regard to product placement, I am watching a particular series at the moment where there is very obvious product placement going on. In that case, it is alcohol. I take the Senator's point but I will have to revert to him on the specific point he raises.

In response to Senator Boyhan's question, what I am saying is that we have a second Bill coming and there is a consultation open.

I do not want to pre-empt where it goes, but what I can say is that the reason we are moving this Bill through very quickly is to ensure we ban the sale of vapes to children and anyone under 18 very quickly. We are also bringing in some important additional tobacco controls in this legislation.

There is a second Bill, which we are beginning to draft now. It will be informed by the public consultation, the pre-legislative work the health committee did and, indeed, the Second Stage debate on this Bill in the Seanad. The second Bill will address things like flavouring, packaging and the use of single-use, disposable vapes. We will need to see the outcome of the public consultation and take legal advice on exactly what we can do within the Single Market rules, but one of the things I would like to see is the introduction of further curbs on point-of-sale advertising. We are all aware that when we go to get our petrol or into a newsagent, in some places, we are just bombarded by this very colourful, attractive and overwhelming point-of-sale advertising for vapes. I certainly want to take a look at that.

Could we go further in terms of an advertising ban and apply this not just to movies rated for under 18s but to those for all ages? I am not committing to doing that, but I am committing to keeping an open mind on the issue. I understand where the amendments are coming from. In private discussions with the proposers, they have made the point to me that, as we all know, there are plenty of people under 18 at movies that might have an 18 rating in a cinema. I think part of the intent of these proposed amendments is to try to provide additional protection there as well.

[Click this link for the full debate on the Oireachtas website]