Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. While the Bill is short, it is extremely important. Vaping is a new scourge among young people. We often say that drugs are the new drink. To a large extent, our society suffered for many decades from people abusing alcohol and now the problem seems to be with drugs. Vapes are the new cigarettes for young people. It is shocking that more than 20% of young people vape on a regular basis, including people under 18 years of age. As a result of the good work of the Minister for Health and the passing of the Bill, it will be illegal to sell vapes to people under the age of 18. This is only the start. It is acknowledged by the Minister, the Minister of State and across the House that this is just an incremental step in dealing with vaping. We need to stamp out vaping. We need to make vaping antisocial and anti-trendy. It is not trendy; it is disgusting.

I do not buy into the notion that vaping is used as a step-down from smoking cigarettes. Vaping is illegal in Australia. Someone who wants to vape to give up smoking in Australia needs a prescription from a GP. That is where we need to get to with vaping. We need to close down the horrible vaping shops that are proliferating in every town and village. They are disgusting.I remember we had a beautiful shop in Ennis, Record Rack. As children we used to go in to buy CDs and, before that, tapes. Now it is a vaping shop. Unfortunately, it is not the only one; there are many more in Ennis, throughout County Clare and throughout Ireland. Our high streets are polluted with vaping shops. We need to eliminate it.

I look forward to further legislation in this area in the lifetime of this Government. I commend the Minister of State. If I do not see her in the Chamber between now and the end of term, I wish her and her family a happy Christmas.