Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)

The Minister of State and her predecessors have shown a shocking lack of urgency when it comes to vapes. Under the watch of successive Ministers, youth vaping rates have skyrocketed. Is this any wonder with flavours like cotton candy, cherry cola and bubble gum readily available in any corner shop or indeed with stores showcasing vapes like pick and mix rather than the display of highly addictive products? The numbers speak for themselves. In June, a study by The Lancet into Irish nicotine use found that, between 2015 and 2023, vaping had more than doubled across all age groups going from 3% to 8%. The dual-use of vapes and cigarettes also more than doubled, increasing from 1% to 3% while vaping among 15- to 24-year-olds went from 19% to 30%.

During the same period, the only real action taken by the Government was to ban the sale of vapes to under-18s, something most people thought was already the case. That 2023 legislation should have been the vehicle used to ban disposable vapes and restrict flavours, packaging and advertising. In 2022, the previous health committee recommended regulating flavours and marketing in that Bill but it was ignored. Two public consultations on single-use vapes had to be held before the Government finally accepted that action should be taken.

Now with the end of 2025 in sight, we are still none the wiser on the regulation and banning of vapes. I accept that there is an EU notification process which must be adhered to, but that cannot even be initiated until we have draft legislation. This needs to be a priority. We should not be here making statements; we should be dealing with the necessary legislation. It is time for action. The time for talk is truly over. We need decisive action here. I raised this point with the senior Minister previously. Time and time again, we have statements in this House on health issues instead of dealing with health legislation. All the time we call for more productivity in the health service. We need more productivity from Parliament and more productivity from the Department of Health in particular on health legislation.

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