Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I am delighted to be here today for statements on the use of vapes and nicotine products by young people. Fianna Fáil is the party that introduced the smoking ban. We have a steadfast commitment to improving public health but we have to go further. I know this legislation will tackle the rise in the use of vapes by children and young people by reducing their attractiveness and availability but I just want to make three points in my few minutes here.

The first point relates to the product placement of vapes. It is absolutely unbelievable that sweets, bars of chocolate and vapes can all be side by side in a shop. We see it right across the country. We see it in Carlow-Kilkenny. Every single day when I go into shops, I see these vapes with their strong branded colours and flavours. That cannot be allowed to continue and has to be changed. Some of these products look very attractive and that has to be changed.

In relation to vaping in schools, I spoke to a young student recently and he told me that, in his school, people were able to get access to vapes in various manners. In the bathrooms of the school, they are actually selling drags of a vape for €1 or €2 a drag, which is absolutely unbelievable. We need to work extra hard with our younger people to make sure they are aware of the of the consequences of vapes.

I welcome the Not Around Us campaign, a joint initiative between Kilkenny County Council and Carlow County Council, which is hugely successful. Younger people are coming together to promote smoke-free and vape-free zones. We need more of these kinds of initiatives. It has worked really well in Carlow and Kilkenny in promoting awareness.

My final point is on accessibility. It is too easy for a young person to get access to vapes in 2025. I spoke to a 15-year-old transition year student who, as part of a project, went to 20 vape shops right across the constituency to see if that student could purchase vapes. In 17 of the shops, it was absolutely no problem and no questions were asked even though this person was under age. Three shops asked if the student had ID and when the student said they did not have ID on them, the shops still sold vapes anyway. Such easy accessibility is a huge issue. If there are restrictions there and if people are not allowed to be served until they are over 18, there have to be strong penalties in place for shops that sell vapes people who are under age.

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