Health

Donnelly confident laws on selling vapes to under-18s can be enforced as new rules come into effect

Incoming legislation will make it an offence to sell vaping products to children, with penalties ranging from fines of up to €4,000 to up to six months in prison

The legislation has further restrictions in terms of advertising. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin

Vivienne Clarke
Thu Dec 21 2023 - 15:25

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has expressed confidence that laws on the selling of e-cigarettes and vapes to young people can be enforced as parts of new legislation comes in to force on Friday.

Earlier this month, new laws governing vapes were passed by the Oireachtas and signed into law by President Michael D Higgins. Mr Donnelly has commenced sections of the law into force to prohibit the sale of vapes to under-18s.

The new law means it is an offence to sell vaping products to children, with penalties ranging from fines of up to €4,000 to up to six months in prison. They will be enforced in the same way as the sale of cigarettes and alcohol, he told RTÉ News at One on Thursday.

Mr Donnelly said that many health organisations had been concerned about the “very cynical and very clever targeting of younger people by the tobacco industry” through the use of bright and colourful packaging and fruity flavours.

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He said they were right to be concerned and the Government wanted to go further and the under the new law a ban would be introduced from Friday which would introduce a licensing system for every shop in the country which will ban the sale of e-cigarettes to children.

The legislation has further restrictions in terms of advertising. Mr Donnelly said he was drafting a second piece of legislation which was mid-way through public consultation about restrictions on flavours and bright packaging.

“I want to see restrictions on the point of sale advertising. And I want to see an end to single use disposable vapes.”

Once that public consultation is completed the draft legislation will have to go to the EU, he explained.

“There’s a several month process whereby we say, look, we’re planning on bringing in restrictions on these products, then we’ll bring it back to the Oireachtas. And certainly there’s been very, very broad support from within Government and indeed Opposition for going further and getting this second bill through.”

Other measures in the new law due to be enacted next year include a prohibition of the sale of tobacco and vaping products in vending machines, as well as a ban on advertising the products near schools or on public transport. The law will also ban the sale of cigarettes or vapes at events that are aimed at children.

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