Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Colm Burke, on his appointment. Obviously, we will have a robust debate over the next 12 months, but I wish him all the best. Where we can work together, we will, because this is a vital area. It is important to introduce legislation and amendments that we can agree on and work together on. Best of luck to the Minister of State.

It is now well known that the workplace smoking ban has had a transformative impact on the health and well-being of people in the State. It was a successful policy that reduced smoking rates and protected workers from second-hand smoke. Even though I understand that when the Bill to effect the ban was introduced – I have been here for only four years – there was much opposition, but everyone, or certainly the vast majority, now recognises it was the right thing to do and has been a success.

I have been in this Chamber for four years and am extremely proud to be a Deputy for Cork North-Central and the Sinn Féin spokesperson on addiction recovery and well-being, but I have never seen – I do not know whether it is just me – a group of politicians pat themselves on the back over how well the Government is doing on many issues. Week after week, I come in here to point out the failings that are occurring and ask the Government, especially the Minister for Health, to tackle the various problems and crises concerning the health service, but also concerning housing and the cost of living. We are standing here today engaging in a two-hour debate devoted to discussing a policy introduced 20 years ago. Even though I have recognised that it entailed a good decision and was the right thing to do, we have issues that need to be discussed now. This week, there was no time allotted in the House to discuss housing, the cost of living, the crisis in public health and the crises faced in hospitals and doctors' surgeries. I understand the Minister played a pivotal role in introducing the smoking ban, which I acknowledge, but we have issues to be addressed today.

One of the issues I want to discuss is the Gambling Regulation Bill. That should have been discussed this week. I had expected to be here today discussing that vital Bill, which deals with an issue that has featured for nearly as long as the smoking ban has been in place, namely 20 years. This is important legislation that should have been discussed but that is not being discussed. It would protect people, especially the vulnerable, who are at risk right now. I have dealt with the cases of people who have lost their homes and families owing to their having been in the throes of addiction and at risk of gambling hard. The Bill needed to be discussed today. It is really disappointing that the Government, having looked at the business for this week, has let the opportunity go. How can anyone justify the movement of the legislation? This is a disappointing aspect of today's business.

I agree with a number of the points the Minister made on vapes. There are 17,000 flavours, which is unbelievable. No one can justify having 17,000 flavours other than to target young people. The packaging is bright and colourful and there are flavours of all kinds, including bubblegum, Red Bull, candy floss and chocolate. Vapes are now becoming collectors' items like Pokémon cards, soccer cards and GAA cards.

That is part of a new fad. How are we allowing this to happen? How is the Government allowing it to happen? We are now looking at children who are at risk. We have asked the Minister for Health to consider restrictions on flavours and explore the impact of these flavours on young people.

Similar to the smoking in the workplace ban that the Tánaiste brought in, we are calling for much stronger vaping regulations. There are claims that restricting flavours will lead to a tsunami of ex-smokers taking up vaping. I do not believe that. They are claiming that there would be a loss of 65,000 jobs. That was the claim back in the day when the Tánaiste introduced the smoking ban but it did not transpire, and it will not transpire with vaping either. We will not see job losses and I imagine the downward trend in smoking could actually be reversed if we do not tackle vaping. That is a serious concern for me. I know the Tánaiste touched on that point. He said the regulations that have come in are a start but do not go far enough. They do not go far enough.

I also want to touch on when the workplace smoking ban was implemented. I know there were many critics of it and that people did not want the ban to be introduced. What we are seeing now is a parallel with vaping similar to when the smoking ban came in. The Guardiannewspaper ran an article which showed clearly the links between pro-vaping lobbies in Britain and the tobacco industry. As the tobacco industry is waning, it is diversifying and pumping funding into vaping. As a result, the number of people vaping has surged. The World Health Organization has found that, on average, people who vape do so three times more than those who smoke light up cigarettes. Vaping is much more addictive. Because of the chemicals involved and the addiction they cause, the more you vape, the more you have to vape. The habit perpetuates itself.

There are serious links between these products and toxic substances, some which are known to cause cancer and some which increase the risk of heart and lung disorders. Most worrying is that the nicotine contained has been shown to impact the brain development of children and young people. I remember speaking on the Bill when it was being discussed. I made a point that I knew a person in their 60s who used vaping to get off cigarettes. I recognise that but what has happened is that the vaping industry, instead of being a way to try to get off cigarettes, has switched to targeting young people to try to get more young people addicted. That is not what vaping was. The tobacco industry will always look for opportunities to make money. That is what it is doing here. As such, it is putting young people at risk.

To touch on Keltoi, when the workplace smoking ban was introduced, the point was made that there would be no compromise on health, yet week after week in this Chamber, we hear about compromises on health. During the pandemic, the only State-run addiction facility was closed. I raised it numerous times in here. I welcomed the commitment last year to reopen Keltoi in 2024. There was a proposal to turn Keltoi into a national dual diagnosis centre, which everyone supported, but the problem here again is that the Government has compromised on health and failed to give the €2 million that is needed to develop Keltoi into a dual-diagnosis centre.

The Tánaiste probably heard during the week about what is happening in Cork University Hospital, CUH. A lady contacted local radio stations and The Echo. She was in the emergency department. Things are so bad in CUH this week that the triage nurse had to come out to speak to a young woman who had issues and severe abdominal pains and ask her really personal questions in a waiting room with dozens of other people about her menstrual cycle and bowel movements. Can you imagine being a young woman or a young man of 24, 25 or 26 years of age, or even a much older person, being asked this private, really revealing questions in front of a roomful of people? The reason is that the doctors and nurses in CUH are at the pin of their collar. There is a significant problem and it comes down to the Minister for Health.

The Tánaiste took a brave decision 20 years ago, which is acknowledged. We have a Minister for Health now who is not doing so. He has failed the health service. He did not get an increase in the health budget. He is standing over an embargo on recruitment in the health service. Twenty years ago, a good decision was made. In the past 20 years, have Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael health Ministers lost their backbone? They are failing to deliver for people in health.

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