538. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the steps he will take in relation to nitrous oxide following the publication of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drugs Use Final Report; his views on the report’s recommendations relating to nitrous oxide; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50814/26]

Jim O'Callaghan, Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: I am very aware of the issues raised in connection with nitrous oxide, as well as the potential negative health implications of the misuse of this product. The Joint Committee on Drugs Use has examined the recommendations made by the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use and have recently published their final report. The report makes a number of specific recommendations related to the misuse of nitrous oxide. These recommendations will need to be carefully considered by all relevant stakeholders including the Department of Health and my Department.

I must emphasise however that the health issues related to nitrous oxide are proper to the Department of Health, the HSE and the Health Products Regulatory Authority and I understand that the HPRA has previously issued advisories on the misuse of this substance.

I want to commend the ongoing work of the HSE and community groups in responding to the rise in nitrous oxide misuse. Through public awareness campaigns, harm reduction advice, and engagement with at-risk groups, they are working to mitigate the very real health risks. The HSE actively monitors usage trends and runs targeted awareness campaigns. A key part of this strategy includes the dissemination of a harm reduction factsheet, detailing risks, effects, and advice, to Drug and Alcohol Task Forces, student unions, and at festivals. Parents are also supported with information through various formats, including the drugs.ie website. This multi-faceted approach is delivered in collaboration with Task Forces across the country, aligning with recommendations from the European drugs agency.

The misuse of nitrous oxide is already addressed under several pieces of legislation.

The Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2010 aims to prevent the misuse of dangerous or otherwise harmful psychoactive substances and provides for offences relating to the sale, importation, exportation or advertisement of those substances. The Act provides that a person who sells, or who imports or exports, a psychoactive substance knowing or being reckless as to whether that substance is being acquired or supplied for human consumption shall be guilty of an offence.

Furthermore, I am advised by my colleague Minister Burke at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment that from February 2027, nitrous oxide will be subject to EU classification harmonisation and will be designated as a substance that is potentially harmful to human reproductive health and the nervous system. This reclassification is not merely a technical change; it is the trigger for further regulatory action. The European Commission has also published a draft amendment to the Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) that would restrict the placing on the market of nitrogen oxide for supply to the general public, subject to narrowly defined derogations.

In April 2026, the REACH Committee voted to proceed with the restriction on placing on the market of nitrous oxide based on its reprotoxic characteristics, with strict derogations for legitimate uses already approved under EU law, such as food safety law. It is expected that the final restriction Regulation will be formally adopted and published later this year and will come into force in February 2027.