Legislation which will regulate the sale of vapes and e-cigarettes should also include a ban on flavoured products and bright packaging, an Oireachtas committee has recommended.
The Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill aims to extend many of the restrictions which apply to tobacco sales to the sale of electronic smoking devices which have become increasingly popular in recent years.
The Bill includes a ban on the sale of vapes and e-cigarettes to those aged under 18. On Friday, the Joint Committee on Health called on the Government to go further and ban certain flavoured products to protect minors.
In its pre-legislative scrutiny report, the committee said these flavours, which include bubblegum, strawberry milkshake, tutti-frutti and cola, are particularly attractive to young people.
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Other recommendations include restrictions on brightly coloured packaging and the introduction of plain package requirements such as those which apply to tobacco products.
All e-cigarette advertising and promotions should be banned including those on social media and those involving “influencers”, the report said.
“Over the course of the hearings on the Bill, significant evidence came to light regarding the harms of e-cigarettes, particularly for adolescents and young adults,” said Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe, the committee chairman.
“Evidence was also provided about growing trends of vaping among teenagers and the easy accessibility and marketing of such products, with the use of brightly coloured packaging and flavours as well as the use of online marketing to attract younger people to these products.”
The committee called for more public communication on the harms of e-cigarettes and for more research in the area.
Restrictions on the sale of tobacco, such as a ban on selling from vending machines or kiosks, should apply to e-cigarettes, it said. Their sale should also be banned at events intended for children.
The committee said Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly should review the rules on the importation of tobacco products by individuals from abroad. They should also examine the possibility of increasing the legal age for purchasing tobacco from 18 to 21 years of age.
As well as banning the sale of all nicotine products to under-18s, the legislation should ban the sale of devices used to smoke these products, such as vape pens which require liquid to be added.
It also recommended more supports be offered to smokers wishing to quit and that these be free. The legislation should be reviewed after one year, it added.
