Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As always, the Minister is very welcome to the Chamber. This Bill is the first legislation on e-cigarettes. Will the Minister confirm whether the Bill, which a Seanad colleague has suggested represents light-touch regulation, goes further than required by the EU? The Bill requires annual licensing, bans sales to minors and sales at events for children and introduces additional restrictions on advertising. It is positive that it goes further than EU requirements.

My Seanad colleague, Senator Mullen, said that there is a cohort of young people who can be naive and make stupid decisions. That may be so but there are also older people who are naive and can make stupid decisions. I am not sure that is a strong and compelling argument for categorising or subdividing the population by age when it can apply to any age group. However, the evidence is clear and I commend Senator Mullen for, not for the first time, adopting an approach that cannot be accused of being populist. His proposal comes from a genuine place and, in a democracy and a chamber such as this, you need to hear other viewpoints and to be challenged. The Senator also had a different viewpoint when he opposed lowering the voting age during last week's debate. Although I implacably disagree with that viewpoint, I admire people who can come up with different propositions and stand over them.

E-cigarettes are clearly not harm-free. They can damage health, inflict short-term harm and potentially act as a gateway to cigarette tobacco smoking. The number of people vaping in Ireland is on the rise, with new research indicating that the average age at which young people start to vape is between 13 and 15. The rate of vaping among teenagers increased from 23% in 2014 to 39% in 2019 according to research carried out in secondary schools by the TobaccoFree Research Institute Ireland. A new study by the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation has found that more than one in five children aged between 12 and 17 years of age have tried e-cigarettes, double the number who have tried tobacco. Marketing through social media plays a big role in promoting vaping with videos on all social media platforms normalising the behaviour and enticing children to try it, after which they get addicted.

Concerns have been raised that the legislation does not go far enough in protecting children as it will still be legal to purchase e-cigarettes for them. This is the case with all cigarettes but we should not shy away from introducing rules based on a fear that they are unenforceable. The legal ban on the sale of e-cigarettes to children will allow a cultural norm to be established that children should not be smoking cigarettes of any type. These cultural norms are very important in directing behaviour across our society.

In his opening remarks, the Minister referred to matters that are coming down the line and the public consultation process. He will be aware that the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, proposes to ban the sale of single-use vapes. A public consultation on that issue was held in September and the results will be available shortly. This is particularly important for young people because a recent study showed that 50% of young people rely on single-use vapes. Single-use vapes contain lithium batteries and other toxic materials and are frequently littered, causing pollution. They cannot be recycled and are a very wasteful use of precious resources. Single-use vapes are becoming a blight on the environment and are very difficult to manage.This legislative initiative is a step in the right direction. I commend the Minister and the Government on introducing it. It was well-received in the Lower House and the Green Party and our grouping is happy to support it.