Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation which the Social Democrats will be supporting.

A ban on the sale of vapes to under 18s is very much long overdue along with curbs on advertising. However, given the surge in youth vaping, the provisions of this Bill do not go far enough to tackle what is a rapidly growing problem.

During pre-legislative scrutiny, the scale of vaping amongst minors was laid bare and that is why the Committee on Health recommended greater intervention than the Minister of State is proposing. Unfortunately, most of those recommendations have been ignored by the Government. Of the 15 well thought-out recommendations, more than half have not been acted upon. What is the purpose of pre-legislative scrutiny if the Government does not take on board the recommendations from the relevant committee, having considered the matter in detail? Given this country’s track record in the regulation of tobacco and cigarettes, I find it difficult to understand the lack of ambition shown in this Bill.

Ireland used to be a leader in this area, having been the first country to ban workplace smoking in 2004. However, it now appears that that leadership is sorely lacking.

The most alarming aspect of this Government’s response to the growing use of nicotine is that it is sleepwalking into a teenage vaping crisis. According to the Irish Heart Foundation, 39% of 15- to 16-year-olds have used vapes, with 15.5% of them regular users, while the Irish Cancer Society told the Committee on Health that vaping rates in the 12- to 17-years category has risen from one in ten, to one in five. That is a doubling of the rates.

It should be noted that most of this data is between two and three years old but given the increasingly widespread use of vapes, one could only assume that these numbers have increased substantially. This dramatic surge in teenage vaping can also be seen in other jurisdictions.

In the UK, where a ban on the sale of vapes to under-18s has been in place since 2015, 9% of 11- to 15-year-olds used vapes in 2021, up from 6% in 2018. The ban, therefore, did not do a whole lot. For 15-year-olds, the figure rose to 18%.

The experience of our closest neighbour should act as a cautionary tale. Clearly banning the sale of vapes to under-18s is not enough to contain the soaring popularity of vaping amongst teenagers. That is why, in my view, a much stronger response is required to address this public health issue. We are one of the last EU countries to ban vape sales to children. Why is that? It is because successive governments have dragged their heels on this issue. The State has allowed a highly addictive substance to be sold to children and teens for several years now, and the legacy of this failing is as yet unknown.

Most vapes contain nicotine, a proven drug compound, along with a cocktail of other chemicals heated to high temperatures. Yet they are widely available because of the absence of a robust regulatory environment. No other drug would be allowed onto the market without vigorous testing, safety checks and regulation, except this one. Why is that the case? Is it because of lobbying or is it because this Government simply does not understand the scale of the problem? In my view, it appears to be an element of both.

It should come as no surprise that vaping companies and their lobbyists are in favour of the under-18s ban. They have already got a generation of young people hooked and they know that a ban on the sale of vapes to under 18s will be ineffective because it is coming in, essentially, on its own. That’s why these companies champion this one form of regulation. If this Government is serious about tackling teen vaping, it needs to implement the Health committee’s recommendations to regulate flavours and packaging.

While vapes may help some smokers quit cigarettes, they are not risk free and more research is needed to assess their effectiveness and long-term health implications. However, one thing is for sure, there can be no justification for their availability in flavours which are specifically designed to attract children.

According to the WHO, there are around 16,000 different vape flavours, including watermelon, pink lemonade and cotton candy. Who are those intended for? That is why the Committee on Health recommended that only tobacco flavour should be available for purchase, so as not to entice minors.

In the US, research carried out by the National Library of Medicine found that almost 80% of youth users said the availability of flavours was the reason they vaped. Back home, a 2020 study of adolescents conducted for the HSE also pointed to the appeal of flavours to a youth audience. Participants said that the flavours were an attraction, with some calling vapes “trendier” due to the choice of flavours and colours.

During pre-legislative scrutiny, the Irish Cancer Society called for regulation of flavours based on the knowledge and evidence that vapes can act as a gateway to smoking for adolescents and the view that flavours such as bubble gum and cola were clearly targeted at younger children. However, according to the Department of Health, a balance must be struck regarding the needs of adult smokers and the protection of children. In my view, this is a weak argument against regulating flavours. Restricting vapes to one flavour, or, perhaps, a very small number, would not hinder adults from using them to quit smoking but it would lessen the appeal of vaping to children and teens. I have already listed a number of flavours, which include bubblegum, strawberry and those flavours which are used in sweets and in ice creams. These are specifically targeted at children and there is no denying that.

Another way of limiting their appeal to minors would be to implement plain packaging on all vapes. This is another recommendation which the Minister of State has ignored, despite the obvious rationale for such a measure.

In 2017, the last Government standardised packaging of cigarettes and tobacco and we should treat vapes in the same way. At the moment, the array of vapes behind the counter of every corner shop resembles a pick-and-mix rather than a display of highly addictive products. These products should be in plain packaging and out of sight, like cigarettes and tobacco. We know for a fact that many of the vaping companies are actually owned now by big tobacco. There is a reason why they are involved. I ask the Minister of State to think on that. Why is big tobacco involved in vaping? The reason is that vaping recruits future smokers.

While I welcome the restrictions at events aimed at children, near schools, on public transport and in cinemas - which are the minimum I expect - an outright advertising ban is needed. The advertising provisions of this Bill amount to little more than tinkering around the edges. The real battleground is online. In January, the Health Research Board highlighted a study conducted by Leah Nolan, a transition year student at Loreto Secondary School in County Cork. Her winning entry to the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2023 investigated the impact of social media on adolescents' attitudes to vaping. After designing and piloting a detailed survey, Leah sent it to all 728 secondary schools in Ireland and received more than 2,000 responses. According to her survey, 36% of all respondents were tempted by or curious about trying vapes after hearing a content creator or influencer talk about them. That is a striking figure, but it will come as no surprise to teenagers and their parents. Despite assurances that vaping advertising is heavily restricted online, the hashtag "#vape" has more than 10 billion views on TikTok. This highly effective use of hashtags has been described as stealth marketing by advocates of tighter regulation. In a submission to the Joint Committee on Health, one 17-year-old called for an outright ban on all vaping advertisements. She said they were misleading as they present only positive images of vaping as cool and fashionable and omit the negative health impacts. That is from a 17-year-old. I would have expected Ministers and the Department of Health to be aware of that. Clearly these teenagers are ahead of the Government when it comes to the impact of vaping advertising.

Another quite disappointing omission from this Bill is a much-needed review mechanism. The Joint Committee on Health recommended a review of the legislation one year after its enactment, given the speed of change, development and emergence of scientific evidence. With the review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, we are seeing first-hand just how worthwhile an exercise it can be to have a review of the operation of legislation.

Another major concern that is not addressed in this Bill is the environmental impact of disposable vapes. I appreciate that this may not be the Department of Health’s first concern. If we are serious about climate action, however, all Departments should be involved. We need an all-of-government approach to it. Will the Minister of State consider bringing an amendment to this effect? Climate change should inform public health policy because it affects the social and environmental determinants of health. The two issues are closely linked and must not be siloed. I accept that the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is currently holding a public consultation on disposable vapes and that is most welcome, but this issue also requires the Department of Health’s attention. These devices, which are usually the most brightly coloured and flavoured, are relatively cheap and much easier to conceal than most reusable vapes. This undoubtedly adds to their appeal to minors.

Separately, I welcome the new licensing provisions and the ban on the sale of tobacco and vapes from vending machines and other mobile or temporary premises. This is an entirely proportional response. However, I ask the Minister of State to consider giving the Revenue Commissioners responsibility for managing and collecting licence fees. There is a case to be made for Revenue doing so, as it may be better placed than the HSE to manage and enforce this new licensing system.

Before I conclude, I reiterate my support for the Bill. I view the provisions of this Bill positively, but the Minister of State has missed an opportunity to do something more meaningful, especially about the alarming rise in vaping among teens. I heard her in the media recently talking about the need for a ban on the various child-attracting flavours and packaging. She stated that the EU needs to ban them and that if it does not act, she will. The Minister of State has an opportunity to act now. Why is she not doing this thoroughly? There is no point in taking action like this if she is only doing so by half. She needs to do it properly and to do the full job while the draft legislation is before us. This is the time to do it. It should not be delayed to some vague point in the future. The WHO has described vapes as a gateway to tobacco consumption. We are in danger of renormalising smoking due to the availability and appeal of vapes to young people in particular. We cannot allow progress towards a tobacco-free society to stall at this point. The current smoking rate of 18% is far above the target set in the Tobacco Free Ireland report of less than 5% by 2025. I appreciate that this is an ambitious target, but we should be making greater strides towards achieving it, not only by increasing regulation of vaping but by providing ancillary supports.

During pre-legislative scrutiny, the Irish Heart Foundation provided evidence that the State spends between €11 million and €12 million a year on helping smokers to quit, while collecting approximately €1 billion a year from smokers. Surely we can afford to spend a bigger proportion of that €1 billion than €11 million or €12 million on assistance for people to quit. That is a massive gap. That is why I am calling on the Minister of State to ring-fence more funding for the HSE quit team and to address the cost barriers to quitting. For example, for people who do not have a medical card, the cost of nicotine replacement patches is about €36 per week and it is around €26 per week for gum. Given the destructive and deadly health effects of smoking on people’s health and the long-term impact of tobacco-related diseases on the wider health system, it makes absolute sense to eliminate quitting cost barriers and invest in supports such as nicotine replacement therapy. Otherwise, too many people will continue to struggle with quitting or will turn to vapes as an alternative in view of the fact that they are accessible, come at a relatively low price and are the subject of heavy marketing.

On Committee Stage, I will be putting forward amendments which seek to implement the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Health. I ask the Minister of State to give these amendments serious consideration in order that this legislation can have a much greater public health impact and make Ireland a leader in this area again.

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