Ms Siobháin Brophy:

There has already been quite a bit of regulation on electronic cigarettes under EU law and under the tobacco products directive, which Ireland has transposed. There are regulations around labelling and the nicotine content, and there are restrictions around characterising flavours. There is a pretty strong notification process because of the number of products out there. On an EU database we are talking about 300,000 different types of products currently registered within the EU. Manufacturers and importers are required to notify the HSE in Ireland if there are issues with products.

The revision of the tobacco products directive will definitely see further regulation of e-cigarettes. It is hard to know at this stage whether they will go down the road of having more restrictions on flavours, which poses the problems I spoke about earlier. They may reduce the tank sizes for the actual devices. There are already restrictions on the nicotine content. There are warnings on every product telling consumers this product contains nicotine and that it is a highly addictive substance. The EU is definitely concerned by e-cigarettes, for all the reasons we have spoken about.

With regard to cessation, the Commission has said, not unlike the UK, that if electronic cigarettes are to be used as a cessation product or tool, it should fall under niche pharmaceutical legislation. They are not saying this is proposed for the revision of the tobacco products directive but that is where the Commission is coming from, and that may be the route other countries go also.