Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My Commencement matter asks the Minister for Education to make a statement on whether she has plans to introduce an awareness campaign for post-primary schools to highlight the dangers of vaping and e-cigarettes. This is a very significant issue that has emerged in recent years as to where we are with e-cigarettes and vaping.

While I was at the young scientist exhibition, which is a wonderful affair, and we have all had the opportunity to be there, I met wonderful students from a school in Dunmanway. They had a fantastic project which looked into the issue of vaping and how the students feel about the issue. They were Caoimhín and Ciara from Dunmanway community college. Their project was called The Rise of the Planet of the Vapes and was really well put together. It surveyed 100 students between the ages of 12 and 19 and found that 30% of them vaped, which is really significant. They went on to say the majority began vaping before they came to secondary school, which is the big issue here. That becomes the pathway and the gateway as to how the students move on to the next phase of smoking. The students' research went on to say that vaping is a gateway to smoking and that the majority, 56.7%, went on to smoke.

This is a new epidemic we have seen. We have seen a huge change in society as to how we have dealt with tobacco. I could be bold enough to say that the Minister of State's and my generation probably stepped away from it because the information was out there, but now this gateway of vaping has become a huge issue. I have been told there are more than 8,000 different flavours for anyone who wants to go down the line of vaping - anything from popcorn to chocolate to whatever you require. Now, because of that, teenagers and people in primary school are using e-cigarettes as a gateway to get into smoking.

Judging from the research we have come across, this strategy needs to start in primary schools. We need to start talking to fifth- and sixth-class pupils about this issue and about how we can empower them with information about what vaping could potentially do to their bodies. It is basically inhaling a chemical drug of some nature, and there is nicotine tagged onto that. The majority, over 50% of them, will be involved in smoking going forward. We need a real strategy for our primary school children. As a parent of three kids in primary school, I realise the pressures we have in the primary school sector and realise that it does an awful lot of good work. What is required is an holistic approach as to how we can nip this in the bud. The vaping epidemic we have seen has been in many ways crazy in how we have allowed it to build momentum.It baffles me in so many ways. We need a strategy that involves going into primary schools in particular and engaging with students. Teachers must be empowered and provided with the information they need. We need an awareness campaign in order that the vaping epidemic we have can be stopped.

Again, I compliment Caoimhín and Ciara, the wonderful students from Dunmanway,. They looked at this issue from their point of view. They are fourth year students who surveyed their peers and brought forward concrete information and informed us about the issues involved. Vaping is now a gateway to smoking and has become a real problem. We must move forward with a dedicated strategy.