Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)

The Minister for Health has asked me to thank Senator Ryan for raising this matter. I am sure the Senator and the House are aware the measure she has raised is currently the subject of judicial review proceedings and on that basis it is incumbent on all of us to respect the work the court has to do and be circumspect in our discussion about it. Any call for the Minister to make any further decision is also pending the backdrop of the judicial review.

There are some aspects of the issue we can be very direct about. One of these is that we are in the year 2025 and, despite the time that has elapsed since it was recognised as a lethal product, combustible tobacco is still killing a large number of our population every day. Medical evidence shows that approximately 12 people among our family, friends, neighbours and communities die every day from tobacco smoking in Ireland in 2025. Tobacco smoking is both addictive and lethal. There is scientific consensus that smoking kills at least one out of every two smokers. According to international analysis, smoking is the risk factor that drives the most death and disability combined in Ireland. In addition to the death toll, combustible tobacco products also cause a vast range of illnesses, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peripheral arterial disease, diabetes, stroke and 16 types of cancer. The World Health Organization has estimated that 14% of Alzheimer's disease cases worldwide are attributable to smoking. When our young people smoke, there are additional risks to them. Smoking during childhood and adolescence causes both reduced lung function and impaired lung growth.

The licensing system, which the Senator has raised, relates to the retail sale of tobacco products and also of nicotine-inhaling products such as e-cigarettes. In relation to nicotine-inhaling products, there remains an absence of scientific consensus on their possible health harms. However, it is generally agreed that nicotine inhaling products are not harmless, but that they are less harmful than tobacco products. It is also generally agreed that further research is needed to establish possible long-term health effects of these products. The Health Research Board reviewed the evidence on e-cigarettes in October 2020. It found that, for adolescents, the use of e-cigarettes is associated with an increased likelihood of smoking. In addition, the World Health Organization has recommended since July 2014 that sales of e-cigarettes to minors be prohibited as there is sufficient evidence of the potential for adolescent nicotine exposure to have long-term consequences for brain development.

It is in this context that the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act 2023 was developed. The primary policy objective of the Act is to reduce the health harms of smoking through reducing the use of tobacco products and nicotine-inhaling products, primarily by young people. This objective fulfils two overarching principles of our national tobacco control policy, tobacco-free Ireland. These are the protection of children and the denormalisation of smoking. The Act was designed to achieve this objective through a suite of measures that addressed each phase of the sale of these products, including the licensing of retailers, the regulation of sale and the strengthening of enforcement. The measures in the Act include the licensing of the retail sale of tobacco products and nicotine-inhaling products, the introduction of additional restrictions on the sale of both types of product and restrictions on the advertising of nicotine inhaling products. The important provision prohibiting the sale of nicotine-inhaling products to a child into effect on 22 December 2023. The sale of both types of products by a child is prohibited except in very limited circumstances. The sale of both types of products by self-service, for example through self-service vending machines, is prohibited. That measure came into effect last month. The sale of both types of products at events for children in prohibited. The advertising of nicotine inhaling products around schools and on public transport is prohibited. The advertising of nicotine-inhaling products in cinemas is restricted.

The final group of measures in the Act are those which provide additional enforcement powers to the national environmental health service of the HSE which is the enforcement authority for the 2023 Act and previous tobacco control Acts.