Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, set out to Deputy Cullinane on Committee Stage that the de-nicotinisation of tobacco products is only one of multiple endgame measures that will be considered as the next steps in the elimination of tobacco smoking in our country. It is well recognised that success in addressing public health problems such as tobacco consumption entails multiple evidence-based interventions in order to affect usage and that no single measure is effective on its own. As our next national tobacco control policy is being developed, consideration will be given to product-focused measures, institution- or structure-focused measures, user-focused measures and supply-related measures. I see no reason to limit consideration to de-nicotinisation alone, which would be a consequence of Deputy Cullinane’s amendment.

On the proposed review of smoking-cessation supports, we are not just continuing to review such supports. The Minister has expanded them. In 2017, funding for the HSE Tobacco Free Ireland programme was €11.8 million. By 2021, that had risen to €13.2 million, and by 2023 it had risen to €17 million. As a result of those increases, in 2022 an additional 44 stop-smoking advisers were hired, increasing the number of clinics by 100%. In 2023, the HSE rolled out free nicotine-replacement therapy for everyone accessing its smoking-cessation services. As part of budget 2024, an additional €1.1 million was secured by the Minister for the free nicotine replacement therapy scheme, and he is maintaining that in 2025.

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