1639. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Health if she has considered any data on the way in which vaping is an effective gateway out of smoking and maintaining a lifestyle without nicotine and tar (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57826/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Minister for Health: This issue was examined extensively in the Regulatory Impact Analysis for the proposals contained in the General Scheme for a Public Health (Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill, published in September 2024, and continues to be monitored by my Department.

There is a complex relationship between smoking and vaping, with differences at individual-level and population-level.

First, the Health Research Board found that there was an association between e-cigarette use and subsequent smoking in young people. There is therefore a concern that large increases in e-cigarette use could in time lead to an increase in smoking rates.

Secondly, there are differing views on the effectiveness and safety of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation. E-cigarettes are promoted for cessation in England, citing a Cochrane Review which found them to be twice as effective as Nicotine Replacement Therapies in randomised clinical trials. However, the Irish National Stop Smoking Clinical Guidelines do not recommend e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, due to the uncertain effectiveness and safety profile of e-cigarettes compared with other supports which have been proven to be both safe and effective. The WHO has published global stop smoking guidelines which do not recommend e-cigarettes on similar grounds.

Finally, the above evidence and debate relates to clinical interventions and support, and not the population-level use of nicotine inhaling products as a consumer product.

The biggest cohort of e-cigarette users are former smokers, and 12% of those who attempted to quit in 2024 used e-cigarettes, though this has decreased annually since 2019, despite population increases in vaping prevalence. The second largest cohort of e-cigarette users also smoke (dual-users). Recent research on Irish trends has found that while dual-use correlated with intention to quit smoking and quit attempts in 2015, by 2023 dual-use was no longer linked to efforts to quit tobacco. Concerningly, an increasing proportion of e-cigarette users have never smoked, from 4% in 2021 to 18% in 2024.

Smoking rates have remained static despite an increase in vaping rates, suggesting that vaping is not substituting for smoking. This has been particularly pronounced in the 15–24-year-old cohort, with smoking rates having risen slightly at the same time as rapid increases in vaping (a 7-percentage point increase in 2023)

The proposed measures in the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) (Amendment) Bill take into consideration the population-level impact of vaping and the need for a high level of health protection for young people

The proposals include a review structure to monitor the impact of any restrictions on e-cigarette use and smoking among both young people and adults, as well as provisions to amend the list of allowed flavours as new evidence presents.

Question No. 1640 answered with Question No. 1626.