Seanad debates
Tuesday, 21 June 2022
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Legislative Measures
12:00 pm
Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State is very welcome. This matter is with regard to the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill. I thank Grace Kearney from the Bridgeway Family Resource Centre in Ballymahon whom I met recently on a visit to Ballymahon Vocational School. She highlighted this serious issue and the epidemic among children as young as 12 years of age who vape on a regular basis. It is seen as cool. The reality is that teenagers do not know what they are putting into their bodies. It is seen as cheap, accessible and acceptable in society. Many parents allow the activity unaware of the consequences or unaware that their children are vaping. People can hide the fact they are vaping due to the fact the smoke disappears. The smells and the tastes are like bonbons in a shop with flavours such as mango, bubblegum and strawberry. There are 40 or 50 different versions.
People can buy disposable vapes for as little as €5. These can give up to 10 to 20 mg of nicotine. People can buy vapes with up to 50 mg, which is the equivalent of 50 cigarettes. Some children are inhaling these to get a buzz instead of using drugs. This is what they can do apart from putting nicotine into their system. I have heard stories of shops delivering these products to children at certain venues such are the profits that can be made from them.
What is this doing to the health of our children? What is it doing to their lungs? Children are pulling out of sports because of the reduction in their fitness. They are not fit to play football or take part in sport because of this. We need to license these products properly as we do with cigarettes. We need to introduce a ban on the use of vaping in sports grounds. The reality is that it is cheap and cool and people are uneducated about it. We need strong robust legislation to help us police it. We need this immediately prior to the summer recess.
Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Carrigy for sharing time with me on this very important issue. As we are aware, these shops are springing up all over our towns. They are located in prime locations with very expensive rents. They seem to be open on a daily basis. I have never come across a shop that just sells cigarettes because it would not be financially viable to do so. Something needs to be done on the regulation of these shops. I am aware that the committee on health has had a number of pre-legislative scrutiny discussions regarding the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill.We must try to strike a balance between the potential benefits of e-cigarettes for adult smokers trying to quit and the risks that more non-smokers, particularly children and especially young children, will start vaping.
As Senator Carrigy said, there is evidence that children aged as young as ten and upwards are vaping. The ban on sales of e-cigarettes to minors and the sales licensing system are measures that are needed, and a ban on cigarette flavours, which are believed to appeal largely to children and young adults, should be adopted. I understand there is a consensus among those selling these products that an age limit of 18 should be reduced, but that they disagree with a ban on the flavours. While e-cigarettes face fewer restrictions than the sale of tobacco cigarettes, as they are considered consumer products, the EU tobacco products directive does regulate some aspects of e-cigarettes, including: minimum standards of safety and quality; notification of ingredients; packaging and labelling, including health warnings; and a ban on advertising in print, broadcast, online and other electronic media, although outdoor advertising is allowed on buses and billboards, for example.
It is worth noting that the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation are concerned that the number of young people vaping is increasing. In 2015, 23% of young teenagers used these e-cigarettes. By 2019, this had increased to 37% and I suggest it is even more now. Therefore, in October 2020, the Health Research Board, HRB, published a report that stated that adolescents who used an e-cigarette were three to five times more likely to start smoking than those who did not. This is an important issue. It is as important as when we had to consider legislation to address the head shops in 2009. After much work by the late Senator Nicky McFadden, me and others, those shops were banned in the Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2010, which stemmed from the so-called "party Bill". Those shops were closed. This issue is just as important.
Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senators Carrigy and Wilson for raising this issue. The Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2019, which deals with these matters, is a legislative priority for this Government. Nicotine inhaling products, such as electronic or e-cigarettes, are relatively new and the science concerning their public health effects is continuously evolving. Analysis in this regard is made more difficult by the rapid and continuing evolution of the products themselves. For example, an e-cigarette from ten years ago is nothing like the products currently on the market. Important questions exist around the use of these products and there is no scientific consensus on their harms or benefits.
On one side of the argument is the risk of possible long-term health effects from e-cigarette use and the question as to whether they may act as a gateway for young people to smoking tobacco products. Against this, there are the possibilities that e-cigarettes could act as a substitute for combustible tobacco products for smokers and assist some smokers to quit and therefore reduce the enormous levels of disease and death caused by smoking tobacco products.
In 2019, the HRB was asked to carry out evidence reviews on electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products on behalf of the then Minister for Health. The HRB was asked to examine the available evidence on three topics: the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes as a cessation aid for smokers; the relative health harms and benefits of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products; and what association, if any, could be found between the use of electronic cigarettes among adolescents and the subsequent initiation of smoking tobacco products.
In 2020, the findings of these evidence reviews were published. On the effectiveness of e-cigarettes in helping smokers to quit, the HRB review found that e-cigarettes are as effective as nicotine replacement therapy as an aid to smoking cessation for observed periods of up to six months. On the relevant health harms and benefits of e-cigarettes, the research found they are less harmful than tobacco cigarettes but that further research was needed. On heated tobacco products, the review found that there was insufficient evidence from which to draw conclusions.On whether e-cigarettes used by adolescents increased the likelihood of smoking, the review found a strong association in the majority of examined studies between the use of e-cigarettes and a subsequent uptake in smoking. While the likelihood of smoking initiation varied across the studies, the conclusion was there was a higher likelihood among adolescents who used e-cigarettes.
Taken together, these findings underscore the importance of many of the measures contained within the public health (tobacco and nicotine inhaling products) Bill that is currently in development. We do not want our children to vape and the Bill will prohibit the sale of these products to or by anyone under the age of 18. The Bill will also introduce a licensing system for the retail sale of nicotine inhaling products such as e-cigarettes. A separate licence for each premises that sells these products will be required and an annual fee will apply. The creation of a comprehensive list of retail outlets where these products are sold will also assist the HSE in its enforcement of existing legislation on e-cigarettes under European Union law.
The Bill is currently being drafted by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel and the intention is that it will proceed to enactment as soon as possible. The draft law will require submission at EU level to assess its alignment with Single Market principles and, subject to this process, it will be brought before the Oireachtas as soon as possible. Pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the Bill began on 3 November 2021 and the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health on that process is awaited. Once again, I thank the Senators for raising this important public health issue.
Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comments. I also thank Senator Wilson for sharing this Commencement matter with me and I support his comments.
The Minister of State in his reply said the review found a strong association in the majority of the examined studies between the use of e-cigarettes and a subsequent uptake in smoking. That is a key point. If we want to stop young people from smoking, we need to ban these substances. We do not know what this can lead to. We are allowing people to be addicted at 12 years of age. How are they going to be able to fund this addiction other than turning to crime? The legislation needs to be implemented before the summer recess.
Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)
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At the outset, I should have welcomed the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, to the House earlier. I thank him for his comprehensive reply. I welcome that this Bill is progressing and I would like if it could be speeded up as soon as possible. This is very necessary legislation and it is important it is brought in as a matter of urgency. More importantly, when it is brought in, it is important it is enforced because these shops are springing up daily in our towns and villages. Anything we can do to discourage that should be done.
Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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As well the measure proposed under the public health (tobacco and nicotine inhaling products) Bill, it is important to recognise that electronic cigarettes are also regulated under EU legislation. A tobacco products directive that was published in 2014 was transposed into Irish law following the EU legislation. Under the regulations, health warnings that advise consumers that electronic cigarettes contain nicotine are mandatory on packaging. The regulations also provide for mandatory safety and quality requirements for electronic cigarettes and refill containers, including maximum nicotine concentrations and maximum volumes for cartridges, tanks and nicotine liquid containers. E-cigarette manufacturers or importers are required to notify the HSE of all products they place on the market, and if a manufacturer, importer or distributor has a reason to believe the product is not safe, they are required to notify the HSE immediately and to explain what corrective action has been taken.
Advertising for e-cigarettes is also prohibited on television, radio, online and in printed publications. The tobacco products directive is currently being reviewed as part of the EU's Europe's Beating Cancer Plan, and it is very likely this will result in proposals for further regulation of electronic cigarettes.
The measures contained in the public health (tobacco and nicotine inhaling products) Bill, together with the existing regulations provided by the tobacco product directive, will create a comprehensive regulatory system for electronic cigarettes in Ireland. Taken together, these laws will ensure e-cigarettes and related products and those businesses that operate in this market are appropriately regulated and will act, as the Senators have said, to prevent young people from accessing and using these products.