An Ceann Comhairle: I call the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, to make a statement under Standing Order 56.

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor): I am pleased to address the House as Minister of State with special responsibility for public health, well-being and the national drugs strategy. I will talk about vaping and the use of other nicotine products by our young people and what the Government is doing about this public health challenge. Every day, I hear from parents, teachers and coaches who worry about how many of our children are vaping. Residents and Tidy Towns organisations also see the proliferation of vape shops in our towns and villages and the litter caused by disposable vapes. Before we discuss newer products such as vapes, we must remember that the nicotine product that remains the biggest single health threat to our young people is combustible tobacco. Cigarette smoking is both addictive and lethal. According to international analysis, it remains the biggest single risk factor driving disability. In our country the life expectancy of a smoker is on average ten years shorter than that of a person who has never smoked. Our own data tells us that smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke kills more than 12 of our people every day. Smoking during childhood and adolescence causes reduced lung function. There is evidence it increases the risk of developing psychoactive disorders in later life.

There is a long and proud tradition in Ireland across all political parties of introducing strong tobacco control measures. That started with our world-famous workplace smoking ban, introduced in 2004 by the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin. Successive Governments have built on that and achieved a further driving down of our smoking rates. Our most recent measures include a ban on the sale of cigarettes at events aimed at children, from vending machines and from pop-up shops. We have also increased to 21 the minimum legal age of sale of tobacco products. This will come into effect in 2028. We have made much progress but we cannot rest on our laurels. The prevalence of smoking among children was a frightening 19% in 2002 but it is now less than 5% according to the 2022 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. This reduction is very welcome. However, we want that figure to be zero. Our children should be free from a future blighted by the harms of tobacco.

The data on our adolescents is more worrying. The European Schools Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs survey assesses the health behaviours of our 15- and 16-year-olds. The 2024 survey showed that one in eight in that age group reported that they are smokers. The objective of our national tobacco control policy, Tobacco Free Ireland, is to reduce our smoking rates to less than 5% of our population. The principles underpinning that policy are that this is not a normal activity and that we should not have this for our children. This is about the protection of our children.

We are currently revising that policy to examine further measures we can take finally to eliminate the enormous burden on our health system caused by tobacco. A Bill that is currently being brought through the UK Parliament will create a smoke-free generation by banning the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. We will examine all possible options, including groundbreaking measures like the UK approach. In the context of the devastation caused by smoking, e-cigarettes and other nicotine products represent a reduction. There is a general scientific consensus that they are less harmful than smoking. It is important to stress that outside of the possible benefits for a smoker, there is nothing good about these products. For our young people, these products do nothing other than deliver nicotine and addictive drugs. The primary risk of these products is that the use of nicotine may become an addiction that will result in tobacco smoking and the harm that can cause people.

Since 2014, the World Health Organization has recommended that the sale of e-cigarettes to minors be prohibited. This is because of the evidence of potential long-term consequences for brain development in adolescents caused by nicotine exposure. Our own Health Research Board evidence review from 2020 found that adolescents who vape are more likely to smoke. E-cigarettes or vapes have been regulated at EU level since 2014 under the EU tobacco products directive, which was transposed into Irish law by regulation in 2016. These regulations imposed many restrictions on vapes. Health warnings advertising that e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which is a highly addictive substance, are mandatory on packaging.

The regulations also include a limit on the maximum nicotine concentration allowed for vapes containing nicotine and require manufacturers or importers to notify the HSE of all products that they place on the market. The advertisement of e-cigarettes on television, radio and online is also prohibited. These are some of the measures in EU law and we have since added to that with our own laws to further strengthen the regulation of vapes...

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