Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have some outstanding thoughts to express about the presentation made by the Department a couple of weeks ago. Obviously the Irish Cancer Society, in its submission, has expressed concern about the threat posed by e-cigarettes. A lot of submissions from the industry mention the Public Health England, PHE, report stating e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than tobacco. I have heard the 95% figure bandied around all over the place and there is a huge amount of marketing that says e-cigarettes are considerably less harmful than tobacco. A couple of years ago I heard the society say that further research was somewhat limited. Has there been further research? Are e-cigarettes 95% less harmful than tobacco? Do we still await research on the matter or is the 95% figure merely a good marketing ploy to encourage people to choose e-cigarettes and keep them within the smoking curriculum?