Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for raising another important issue. More young people are vaping and it is also an issue for businesses. How we work on that will be very important.

The Government promotes smoke- and aerosol-free environments through a variety of legislative and non-legislative measures, as set out in the tobacco-free Ireland policy. The Public Health (Tobacco) Act banned smoking in indoor workplaces in 2004. In 2014, legislation prohibited smoking in a car with a child present. This legislation was in response to robust evidence on the disease and premature death that may be caused by second-hand smoke.This legislation currently does not apply to vaping or smoking in certain residential facilities, in outdoor areas such as parks, beaches and playgrounds, and on health and education campuses. The promotion of smoke-free and aerosol-free environments in these contexts takes place through voluntary efforts. The Senator is 100% right on that. A lot of businesses are doing it through their own voluntary efforts. Many businesses and organisations have introduced their own restrictions on vaping indoors, for example, in bars and restaurants and even on public transport. The HSE continues to implement and support tobacco- and e-cigarette-free health and education campuses. A particular success in many of our local areas has been the Not Around Us campaign, which seeks to increase the number of smoke-free and vape-free environments by amplifying the voices of our young people. This is led by our young people. They have been campaigning about not having smoke and so on. This is important and we must listen to our young people.

Any proposed law must be underpinned by evidence. Currently, there is a lack of evidence of significant health harms from second-hand vape fumes. The WHO has concluded that it may pose some harm to bystanders but further research is greatly needed. Irish public health experts have noted, however, that a legislative ban on vaping indoors may be justified based on the denormalisation of vaping and the uncertainty around future possible health impacts from second-hand aerosol.

The process of examining legislative restrictions on indoor vaping began in late 2023 with a public consultation on smoke- and vape-free areas, alongside other options, to further regulate tobacco- and nicotine-inhaling products. Consultation also took place with the national environmental health service in the HSE on the practicalities of how we enforce the measures under public consultation. That was the main thing for us. The Minister proceeded with the measures that would likely have the greatest impact on reducing youth vaping. Members will be aware that the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is working on this and is very much committed to it. Legislation is being drafted, which we are working on together, to restrict flavours, packaging, point-of-sale display, and advertising for nicotine-inhaling products. A further Bill will ban the sale of single-use vapes. These Bills are a priority for publication and we are hoping to have them in the autumn legislative programme as soon as possible. I am absolutely committed to getting the legislation into the two Houses urgently.

Other possible measures are being kept under consideration, particularly regarding an update to the tobacco-free Ireland policy, which is currently under way. This will include a review of the existing range of legislative and non-legislative measures to promote smoke-free and vape-free environments and to consider whether any existing provisions require strengthening. This will be done in the context of the update in December 2024 to the European Council’s recommendation on smoke-free and aerosol-free environments, which Ireland supported. This encourages member states to protect the public from both smoke and vape fumes in a range of indoor and outdoor public environments.

In short, the Government is looking at this in a rounded manner as part of a review of the broader policy while focusing on the urgent measures required to reduce youth vaping.