Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator and her assistant, Ms Rachel Kerley, for the work they have done in preparing this important motion. Any motion that deals with health is important. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, is committed to creating a healthier Ireland. It does not happen overnight and sometimes requires steps to be taken. We can think back on the history of smoking in this country. In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, there was not an enormous amount of education or awareness relating to the difficulties that smoking caused people. Many people smoked because they knew no better. It was a social thing to do. Sadly, many people who were unaware of the dangers are no longer with us because of smoking.

In the 1990s, when I was in college, there was a much greater awareness of the challenges, difficulties and health consequences of smoking. It was taken seriously by the Government. To his eternal credit, the Taoiseach, when he was Minister for Health, banned smoking in indoor places in March 2004. We were the first country in Europe to do it at that time and it was a significant step towards creating a healthier environment. It has saved thousands of lives. People working in restaurants, bars, factories and offices, people in taxis, cars and trains, those who were innocent bystanders, were inhaling cigarette smoke on a daily basis. That was particularly the case for people working in bars. The figures speak for themselves and the facts do not lie. Bar staff had a shorter life span than staff in most other industries. That had to be down to smoking. The then Minister banned smoking indoors and it became suddenly comfortable to go out for a drink or a meal at night. One could get into a taxi where there was no smell of cigarette smoke. That had a significant impact on public health and also created a much more pleasant environment for the 80% of the population or more who do not smoke.

We now have a situation where the tobacco industry has created this little gimmick called vaping. By listening to and engaging with the industry, one would swear that vaping was like playing with Christmas lights. We do not yet have the figures or statistics in respect of vaping but my colleagues should be in no doubt that in 20 years' time, vaping will have destroyed people's health and resulted in fatalities. There is no doubt about it. The liquidised substance in these products cannot be healthy.

What is proposed in this motion can be summed up in one sentence. We want vaping banned in the same places cigarettes are banned, namely, in the workplace, restaurants and hospitals. People can currently vape legally in hospitals. That is the situation we are dealing with. It is bizarre. Sadly, we are an outlier when it comes to legislating for this. Most other European countries have already passed this legislation.

I must credit the Government for publishing heads of Bill in respect of vaping a couple of years ago. The Bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Health, of which I am a member, for pre-legislative scrutiny. I, Senator Clifford-Lee and others have engaged extensively with both sides. The two vaping associations were before the committee. One represents a significant number of shops and the other represents a small number of shops. The representatives of those associations made their case forcefully and were interrogated forcefully by the committee. We also heard from many other people. We heard from people who vape who told us why they should be allowed to continue to do so. The clear recommendation from the health committee is that vaping must be banned in the same way as cigarette smoking must be banned.

I will move to consider street furniture. We have some beautiful towns in this country, with some beautiful traditional shop fronts. What is plonked in the middle of them? A shop with vaping on the front of it, with awful colouring designed to attract young children and adults. In those shops there is every kind of a vape one could possibly imagine. It is like going into a penny sweet shop with hundreds of different penny sweets. There are hundreds of different flavours available. There are some flavours one would never have heard of. There was at one stage a bubblegum flavour that was very attractive and would connect with young children. Be under no illusion whatsoever; this thing is poisonous an dangerous. We have a duty and responsibility to ensure we protect the lives of children today, tomorrow and in the future. We also have a responsibility to allow the more than 80% of people in this country who neither smoke nor vape to be able to go about their business in comfort and in a healthy way. We must ensure not only that they feel comfortable but that they are comfortable. We must ensure not only that they feel healthy but that they are healthy. Nobody should be intimidated by gangs of people vaping on a train, in the waiting room of a hospital, in a restaurant or pub, or at work.

There was a recent case where a gang of people on a plane were vaping. They just laughed when they were asked to stop. We need to change that culture and when society cannot change the culture itself, we must legislate to change it. I commend this motion and hope it will receive all-party support. I call on the Government not to delay in legislating for what this motion calls for.