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

Notwithstanding the limited nature of this legislation, I welcome the Bill to prohibit the sale of tobacco to people under the age of 21 years. The passing of this legislation would make Ireland the first country in the EU to implement a Tobacco 21 policy. There is potential for Ireland to be a leader in this area, but unfortunately the Bill falls short of what is required to effectively tackle smoking. Waiting for Europe to act, as is too often the inclination of this Government, would be the wrong approach, especially given the strength of the lobbying and influence of big tobacco at European level. However, I remain of the view, that not only the same urgency, but far great urgency, should be applied to passing stricter vaping laws. I will return to that subject in a few moments.

A Tobacco 21 policy was first mooted by the Institute of Public Health during pre-legislative scrutiny of the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act 2023. In both its written submission and opening statement to the Joint Committee on Health, the institute cited convincing evidence that this measure would reduce the number of children and young people experimenting with tobacco. In September 2022, the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland published a comprehensive position paper entitled Tobacco Free Ireland: Time for Tobacco 21. According to that paper, international modelling suggests that Tobacco 21 policies have the potential to reduce smoking rates by 25% among 15 to 17-year-olds and in the 18 to 20 age cohort, smoking rates have been shown to drop by 15%.

However, it should be noted that much of the international evidence comes from the US as so few jurisdictions have adopted a Tobacco 21 policy. While US studies provide an interesting insight, it is difficult to draw direct comparisons with such a vast jurisdiction and especially one that has a legal drinking age of 21. The strong association between alcohol and tobacco experimentation among adolescents is a particularly important factor. With these caveats in mind, localised and state-wide findings from the US are still worth noting. For example, in Needham, Massachusetts, the first town in the US to adopt a Tobacco 21 law in 2005, smoking rates have halved among 15 to 18-year-olds, while in California, which introduced a Tobacco 21 law in 2015, the smoking rate among 15 to 18-year-olds has fallen from 10% to 2%. In December 2019, a federal law was introduced to raise the legal age limit to 21 across all states. The most notable feature of that law, distinct from the Government's proposal, is that it includes vapes. It is a very different proposition.

We have known for decades that adult smoking patterns are generally established in adolescence and, as with any addictive substance, the earlier people start to use it, the more likely they are to develop an addiction. The most convincing argument I have heard for a Tobacco 21 policy is the reduced accessibility of tobacco products to young people, especially those under 18. The benefit of this is twofold. First, as others have said, minors are unlikely to be in social groups with people over 21 who could purchase tobacco for them. Second, minors are less likely to attempt to purchase tobacco if they need to pass for a 21-year-old.

Current smoking trends also suggest that this measure is justified. Tobacco Free Ireland was launched in October 2013. It included a commitment to an effectively tobacco-free society, by reducing the national smoking rate to 5% by 2025. Unfortunately, there is no way that target will be met. While the rate of smoking in Ireland decreased from 23% in 2015 to 18% in 2021, it has stood still for a number of years. This plateau is quite disappointing and points to the need for more ambitious tobacco-control measures. One of the positive aspects of this proposal is the element of sending a message about the dangers of smoking, particularly for young people. I hope those messages will be picked up by parents who sometimes turn a blind eye to their teenagers smoking.

The Minister has spoken very little about how this will operate and especially about enforcement. For many years, where we have an over-18 law such as for the purchase of alcohol, we know it has been flouted more often than it has been enforced.

There has been great difficulty - we are all aware of this as public representatives - in local communities that are particularly blighted by alcohol abuse and use among young people. It is very hard to get any kind of enforcement in this area. When attention is drawn to it, it gets some activity but it falls away very quickly. We are great in this country for introducing laws but we are not anything like as good at ensuring their enforcement. Enforcement takes resources and the Minister has made no reference to that at all.

It is my view, however, it is the prevalence of teen vaping which should be of most concern and the Minister should be attaching the most urgency to it. Last month the Growing Up in Ireland 2023 survey was published and found that 9% of 13-year-olds had tried vaping but just 3% had actually smoked a cigarette. It is quite clear what the main problem with regard to smoking is here. According to a 2023 study commissioned by Foróige, 36% of 13 to 16-year-olds said that they had vaped. That is a huge number and is more than one third. There is a real urgency about that and I do not think it is getting the attention it needs.

One has to ask is it any wonder that such high numbers of young people are vaping. It has only been seven months since the sale of vapes to under-18s was banned. That is the absolute bare minimum that one would expect. In fact, most people assumed that it was already the law.

This Government needs to get ahead of this surge in teen vaping before it gets completely out of hand and we are getting very close to that point now. Unfortunately, I see no sign of urgency on the part of the Minister or the Government. There was a flurry of activity around this about six months ago and we had the Tánaiste coming out and talking about the problem but it is only talk. I want to remind the Minister that the report of the health committee on the pre-legislative scrutiny on smoking cessation and vaping was provided to the Minister in July 2022. It is exactly two years since the Minister received the report of the health committee. In that committee report, it was the unanimous recommendation to call for the banning of flavoured vapes and the banning of disposable vapes. Unfortunately, the Minister took a minimalist approach to the legislation even though the Minister had the full backing of the committee to go much further.

I appreciate that there is an EU notification process but why was that not started immediately after the first public consultation? That public consultation ended almost a year ago. The EU only needs six months' notice. My understanding is that the Minister intends to notify the EU this summer but that means that it will be at least the end of the year, if not early next year, before the legislation proceeds. It is highly likely, in my view, that we will have an election before that process is completed and one has to wonder if that promised legislation will ever see the light of day. Simply talking about acting is not enough. We need this legislation passed urgently.

I would also argue that there is absolutely no justification for the range of flavours available, which are clearly designed to appeal to children and young people. The current situation is really ludicrous where these highly addictive products are being displayed like sweets in every shop.

I am also deeply concerned about the continued influence of commercial actors in shaping health policy. The vape lobby is a prime example of this. In plain sight, it is aggressively attempting to shape our understanding of health and addiction. We should not forget that this is a sector with very deep pockets. The vape market in Ireland is currently valued at approximately €116 million annually. The narrative they are pushing, that these products are nothing more than an effective smoking cessation tool, must be challenged head-on.

Not only are vapes highly addictive but they are also very hazardous. In May, the RCSI published its research into the effect of heating the chemicals which are found in vapes. Their study uncovered the formation of new chemical compounds when heated, including 127 classified as "acute toxic". Some 153 others were classified as health hazards and 225 classified as irritants. Most notably, this included a group of chemicals called volatile carbonyls which are known to pose serious health risks. Food, candy and dessert-flavoured vaping products were found to be the sources of this chemical group. These are the very vapes that typically appeal to children and young teenagers. Understandably, young people are not thinking about the long-term health impacts of these products when they buy them but the State should be. Moreover, the State should be acting and should have acted long ago on these. That is why robust legislation that not only bans single-use vapes, but also limits flavours, it is so urgently required and we need to see that as soon as possible. If the Minister had listened to the health committee, we could have seen that legislation already in place and taking effect.

Finally, the Social Democrats will be supporting the Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024 but we are calling on the Minister to show the same if not far greater urgency in tackling youth vaping. Simply describing the problem, as the Minister and the Tánaiste have done, will not cut it any longer. The biggest threat to smoking-related health harms and the promotion of that comes directly now from vaping, the widespread availability of vaping and the use of vapes by young people. I think the Minister has his eyes closed on this and I do not think he realises the extent to which vaping has taken a grip on young people's lives. It is very regrettable that we are chasing now after a trend that has very much taken a grip in this country.

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