Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that the Minister has stated that e-cigarettes are not presented as medicinal products and do not fall under medical products legislation. I welcome the HSE banning the use of e-cigarettes on its facilities, and I welcome other organisations who have voluntarily banned the use of e-cigarettes, including Irish Rail, Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus, Dublin Airport and Aviva. However, I am worried by what people like Harvard professor and director of the Center for Global Tobacco Control at Harvard University, Gregory Connolly, stated recently in Dublin. He argued that, if unregulated, e-cigarettes could be the panacea for the tobacco industry's woes by discouraging quitting and encouraging children to take up smoking. He also indicated that, if regulated, e-cigarettes could offer a miracle in helping people to quit smoking. Professor Connolly urged Ireland to show leadership within the EU by passing a law to regulate e-cigarettes as medical devices.

In the meantime I will listen to Dr. Duggan's concerns that e-cigarettes could cause a fatality. She is urging parents to keep them out of the sight and reach of children at home and be especially careful in disposing of them after use. E-cigarettes are unregulated but they should be regulated.

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