Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 May 2026
514. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if an assessment has been undertaken regarding youth exposure to nicotine-related advertising, branding or retail visibility arising from the increasing number of vape and smoke retail outlets operating in town and city centres; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40864/26]
View answer517. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if a review has been undertaken regarding the environmental and public health impact associated with disposable vaping products; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40867/26]
View answer724. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department intends to introduce further restrictions on the advertising, display, or flavouring of vaping products in retail premises; the timeline for any such measures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41305/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 514, 517 and 724 together.
A Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) was conducted in 2024 to inform the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) (Amendment) Bill 2026 and the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025. The purpose of the RIA is to describe the policy context and objectives, before identifying possible ways to achieve the objectives and the impacts of such responses. The RIA assessed the impact of nicotine inhaling product retail display and advertising, packaging and appearance and flavours, as well as single-use vapes.
The Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill will prohibit the sale of single-use vapes. It has completed all stages in Dáil Eireann and Second Stage in Seanad Eireann.
The Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill has been notified under two separate European Union (EU) Directives. These notification procedures must be completed before the legislation can be enacted.
The Bill was notified under Article 24(3) of the Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU) on 15 December 2025. By 15 June, the European Commission will issue an Implementing Decision to either approve or reject the legislation.
The Bill was also notified under the Technical Standards or TRIS Directive ((EU) 2015/1535). This is not an approval procedure, but a process for Member States and the Commission to make comments on the draft legislation. The standstill period for this TRIS procedure will end on 19 June 2026.
The Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) (Amendment) Bill will introduce further regulation of nicotine inhaling products in terms of flavours, packaging and appearance, and retail display and advertising. It will also introduce domestic regulation for all other current and future non-medicinal nicotine consumption products, in the form of a minimum age of sale of 18 and retail display and advertising restrictions. This Bill has completed Committee Stage in Dáil Eireann.
The draft legislation was also notified at EU level under the TRIS Directive on 2 April 2026. This incurs a standstill period of 3 months, with a further 3 month extension if the EU Commission or Member States issue a Detailed Opinion regarding the legislation. This notification procedure must be completed before the legislation can be enacted.
