Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators Carrigy and Wilson for raising this issue. The Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2019, which deals with these matters, is a legislative priority for this Government. Nicotine inhaling products, such as electronic or e-cigarettes, are relatively new and the science concerning their public health effects is continuously evolving. Analysis in this regard is made more difficult by the rapid and continuing evolution of the products themselves. For example, an e-cigarette from ten years ago is nothing like the products currently on the market. Important questions exist around the use of these products and there is no scientific consensus on their harms or benefits.

On one side of the argument is the risk of possible long-term health effects from e-cigarette use and the question as to whether they may act as a gateway for young people to smoking tobacco products. Against this, there are the possibilities that e-cigarettes could act as a substitute for combustible tobacco products for smokers and assist some smokers to quit and therefore reduce the enormous levels of disease and death caused by smoking tobacco products.

In 2019, the HRB was asked to carry out evidence reviews on electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products on behalf of the then Minister for Health. The HRB was asked to examine the available evidence on three topics: the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes as a cessation aid for smokers; the relative health harms and benefits of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products; and what association, if any, could be found between the use of electronic cigarettes among adolescents and the subsequent initiation of smoking tobacco products.

In 2020, the findings of these evidence reviews were published. On the effectiveness of e-cigarettes in helping smokers to quit, the HRB review found that e-cigarettes are as effective as nicotine replacement therapy as an aid to smoking cessation for observed periods of up to six months. On the relevant health harms and benefits of e-cigarettes, the research found they are less harmful than tobacco cigarettes but that further research was needed. On heated tobacco products, the review found that there was insufficient evidence from which to draw conclusions.On whether e-cigarettes used by adolescents increased the likelihood of smoking, the review found a strong association in the majority of examined studies between the use of e-cigarettes and a subsequent uptake in smoking. While the likelihood of smoking initiation varied across the studies, the conclusion was there was a higher likelihood among adolescents who used e-cigarettes.

Taken together, these findings underscore the importance of many of the measures contained within the public health (tobacco and nicotine inhaling products) Bill that is currently in development. We do not want our children to vape and the Bill will prohibit the sale of these products to or by anyone under the age of 18. The Bill will also introduce a licensing system for the retail sale of nicotine inhaling products such as e-cigarettes. A separate licence for each premises that sells these products will be required and an annual fee will apply. The creation of a comprehensive list of retail outlets where these products are sold will also assist the HSE in its enforcement of existing legislation on e-cigarettes under European Union law.

The Bill is currently being drafted by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel and the intention is that it will proceed to enactment as soon as possible. The draft law will require submission at EU level to assess its alignment with Single Market principles and, subject to this process, it will be brought before the Oireachtas as soon as possible. Pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the Bill began on 3 November 2021 and the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health on that process is awaited. Once again, I thank the Senators for raising this important public health issue.