Carlow minister introduces new vape bill and outlines aim of ‘tobacco free Ireland’
Minister of State and Carlow-Kilkenny TD Jennifer Murnane O’Connor brought the legislation before the Dáil
A Carlow minister has introduced new vape legislation to the Dáil and outlined her aim of a “tobacco free Ireland”.
Minister of State Jennifer Murnane O’Connor recently opened the debate on the second stage of the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) (Amendment) Bill 2026.
In her opening statement, Minister Murnane O’Connor outlined the purpose of the legislation to the House.
She stated: “The purpose of the bill is to reduce the appeal and accessibility of e-cigarettes, vapes and other nicotine products such as pouches to young people.
“This bill and the single-use vapes bill together with the 2023 Act mean that we will have one of the strongest regulatory frameworks in the EU on these products.
“According to the current evidence, e-cigarettes may be less harmful than tobacco smoking but this does not mean that they are harmless.
“Our priority with this bill is to protect the health of our young people and non-smokers by reducing the likelihood that they will take up or continue to use products like vapes.”
She went on to outline the measures the bill will take in order to reduce the attractiveness of vapes to young people.
“To make nicotine-inhaling products less attractive to our young people, the bill will restrict the colours and imagery on packaging and on the devices themselves.
“The bill will ban the sale of devices resembling or functioning as other products such as toys or games.
“This is to ensure that the Irish market does not see the evolution of these products into multi-use devices with features that would specifically attract young people.
“It will also restrict the flavours for sale and will prohibit all flavour descriptors and language other than basic flavour names.
“This is to eliminate the marketing potential of the use of child-friendly flavour names.”
Minister Murnane O’Connor said that the legislation will also look to address the sale of nicotine pouches, commonly referred to as ‘snus’.
“The bill creates a new category of products called nicotine consumption products. This category includes pouches and any other product for the recreational consumption of nicotine, other than tobacco, nicotine inhaling products and medical products.
“By creating this new category, the bill is future-proofed and any new products for the recreational consumption of nicotine will automatically fall under its provisions.
“Current and future nicotine consumption products will be prohibited for sale to persons under the age of 18.
“In addition, the display of these products at the point of sale in our general stores will be prohibited and advertising of these products in-store will be banned in all retail outlets.”
While many of these potential measures have been welcomed by the Opposition, there has been criticism of some aspects of the bill.
Carlow-Kilkenny Sinn Féin TD Natasha Newsome Drennan has criticised the plan to reduce the number of vape flavours available to adults.
Deputy Newsome Drennan said: “I can guarantee the Minister of State two things. The first is that every single TD in this Chamber has lost a friend, family member or neighbour as a direct result of smoking.
“The second is that every one of us also knows several people who have quit smoking with the help of vaping, friends or family members whose lives have changed.
“I am almost certain that almost all of them used the very flavoured vapes the Government is now proposing to ban.
“Banning flavoured vapes would be a complete own goal in our fight to reduce the number of smokers in Ireland.
“All the Government would succeed in doing is pushing people back into the grip of the tobacco industry or driving them towards unregulated online platforms where there is little to no oversight on safety, age verification or quality control.”
She went on to cite figures showing that many people who have quit smoking rely on flavoured vapes.
“Let us look at the figures. The numbers are overwhelming. Some 73% of vapers say that fruit flavours play a key role in helping them stay off cigarettes.
“Some 49% would actively source flavoured vapes online or from abroad if a ban were introduced.
“A total of 72% believe that a ban would lead to more young people taking up smoking rather than fewer and 71% believe that banning flavours would push current vapers back towards deadly tobacco products.
“These are not my opinions but the views of the ordinary people whose interests we are here to represent.”
Deputy Newsome Drennan concluded by saying that whilst she agreed with many aspects of the legislation, the banning of vape flavours is a “step too far”.
Having passed the second stage, the bill will now go forward for a detailed examination by a parliamentary committee.
It will then return to the Dáil for a vote before, if passed, being brought before the Seanad.