Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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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.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Lombard for raising this very pressing and timely issue. I have been provided with a fairly detailed response from the Department of Education which I may not get through in four minutes but a copy will be furnished to the Senator.

The Department of Education works together with the Department of Health and other agencies to support students in the area of health. The aim of this work is to equip students with the appropriate skills and knowledge to enable them to make the right choices for healthy lifestyles throughout their lives. Schools have a role to play in supporting their students to develop these key skills and gain the knowledge to enable them to make informed choices when faced with a range of difficult issues. This is mainly done through the social, personal and health education, SPHE, programme.

Work to develop a draft updated specification for well-being, including SPHE, at primary level, is being undertaken by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA. This work follows on from the publication of the primary curriculum framework in March 2023, which set out proposals for the redevelopment of the primary curriculum. It is intended that public consultation on a draft specification will happen this year, with the intention of introduction in schools in 2025. This is a key opportunity for people to feed their opinions in and I would encourage Senator Lombard and his friends from Dunmway, his colleagues and the wonderful students to do so.

The importance of making healthy choices is one that is reflected in curricular developments beyond primary, in particular the new junior cycle SPHE specification which was published in May 2023 and introduced for first years in all schools from last September. As with all curriculum developments, consultation was undertaken on the draft junior cycle specification in 2022. In that consultation, both teachers and students identified that vaping is a growing and serious problem among teenagers and including this topic in the specification was seen as very important.

On vaping specifically, the learning outcomes in the junior cycle specification include that students should be able to investigate how unhealthy products, including vapes, are marketed and advertised, the consequences of using addictive substances, whether now or in the long-term, and the skills and strategies to help them make informed choices to support their health and well-being.

Work is also ongoing to update the SPHE specification for senior cycle and a draft specification was published for consultation in July, with the consultation running until 3 November last. That specification is currently being finalised, with the aim of starting introduction in schools from September 2024.

As I have said, the Department of Education works closely with the Department of Health and the HSE regarding healthy behaviours. Advice from the HSE in relation to vaping in schools was published and issued to school principals by the Department at the end of May 2023. Senators may also be aware that the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act came into effect on 22 December. This prohibits the sale of all nicotine-inhaling products to children and introduces a requirement for a licence for their sale. Further comprehensive regulation of nicotine inhaling products is being considered by the Department of Health, following a public consultation which concluded on 5 January last. I am also advised that the Department of Health and the HSE work closely with local authorities to develop voluntary initiatives that promote smoke-free and vape-free environments such as the Not Around Us campaign. These aim to further reduce the areas where smoking and vaping are present in daily life for young people.

As Senator Lombard will appreciate, there is an awful lot of work being done on this at the moment. There are many avenues for contributing to public consultations. There is an onus on us to increase awareness of the dangers of vaping in order to feed into a much better campus life, and a better life in general, for primary and secondary school students. There is an enormous window of opportunity here.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response. It is very important that we make submissions on this and engage. By 2025, we will hopefully have an appropriate framework in place in order that teachers can engage with students and are empowered to deliver this programme. It is a changing world. Vaping was not an issue four or five years ago but it is a significant issue now. I compliment the students in Dunmanway on their work and engaging with the pupils in their school to come up with these results. The real issue is that vaping is being used as a gateway drug. Traditionally, people used vaping to get off cigarettes but now vaping is a precursor to smoking cigarettes, which is the twist in the tail. It is a significant issue, particularly for young people in primary school who vape, then vape while in secondary school and, potentially, become smokers afterwards. I welcome the actual news but we need to do more, if we possibly could.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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In conclusion, there is an awful lot of work being done in this space. If we reflect on the work that has been done over the last couple of days by the British Government in terms of disposable vapes then that gives an idea of a roadmap where we can move along both from a public health point of view and an education point of view.

It is key that the work undertaken by Caoimhín and Ciara in Dunmanway is fed into the consultation because their knowledge, with respect, is a lot better than our knowledge, Senator, when it comes to the practicalities of vaping in schools and, more generally, in peer groups in both junior and senior cycles. I commend both students on their work and, hopefully, the Senator can work with them to bring their proposals directly to either the Minister for Education or the Minister for Health in due course.