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274. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if the Revenue Commissioners maintain a register, licensing system or dataset relating to vape and smoke retail outlets for taxation or excise purposes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40869/26]

275. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of Revenue investigations, seizures or enforcement operations relating to illicit vaping products or untaxed nicotine products undertaken in each year since 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40870/26]

276. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if an assessment has been undertaken regarding the estimated scale of the illicit vaping market within the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40871/26]

297. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if a sectoral economic assessment has been undertaken regarding the growth of vape and smoke retail outlets within Irish town and city centres over the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40873/26]

380. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if an assessment has been undertaken regarding the impact of vape and smoke retail outlet proliferation on commercial vacancy patterns, retail diversity or traditional retail activity within town centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40874/26]

384. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if planning legislation currently permits local authorities to regulate or restrict the concentration or clustering of vape and smoke retail outlets within towns, villages or city centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40875/26]

385. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if consideration has been given to introducing planning or zoning controls relating to the density or concentration of vape and smoke retail outlets within urban areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40876/26]

386. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has issued planning guidance to local authorities relating to vape and smoke retail outlets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40877/26]

387. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if vape and smoke retail outlets are classified under any distinct planning-use category for the purposes of planning and development legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40878/26]

388. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a review has been undertaken regarding the visual impact of vape and smoke retail signage, illuminated advertising or outlet clustering on historic streetscapes and town centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40879/26]

411. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications approved under the back-to-work enterprise allowance scheme in each year from 2020 to 2025 relating to beauticians, nail bars, barber shops, vape shops, smoke shops, mobile phone retail or repair shops, and similar personal-service or retail businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40888/…

413. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications under the back-to-work enterprise allowance scheme relating to vape shops, smoke shops or nicotine-related retail businesses in each year from 2020 to 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40890/26]

511. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of vape retail outlets operating in the State in each year since 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40861/26]

512. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department maintains a national register or database of vape retail outlets operating within the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40862/26]

513. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if a public health assessment has been undertaken regarding the concentration or proliferation of vape and smoke retail outlets in Irish cities, towns and villages over the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40863/26]

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]

515. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of inspections, compliance checks, enforcement actions, fixed penalty notices and prosecutions relating to the sale of vaping or nicotine products to minors in each year since 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40865/26]

516. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if consideration has been given to introducing a national licensing system for vape and smoke retail outlets; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40866/26]

517. 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]

722. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of retail premises licensed or registered to sell vaping products in Ireland as of the most recent data available; whether her Department has assessed the density of such premises relative to schools and youth facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41303/26]

724. 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]

1108. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Health the present position with regard to vaping legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38742/26]

945. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Health if she is aware of concerns regarding the sale of products commonly referred to as "CALI pens", marketed as CBD vapes, including reports that some may contain synthetic cannabinoids; the legal status of such products under current drugs legislation; the enforcement powers available to An Garda Síochána in relation to their sale, particularly…

1115. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Health whether she is aware of concerns regarding products commonly referred to as "CALI pens", marketed as CBD vapes, including reports that some may contain synthetic cannabinoids; whether the HSE or emergency departments have identified adverse health incidents linked to their use; the oversight or testing arrangements in place for such product…

1131. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Health her plans to pass all stages of the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 before the summer recess; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34665/26]

I thank the Minister of State. It is great to have this debate in this House. I look forward to supporting the Minister of State as she brings forward the urgent legislation that has to come next. The "Vaping Nation" programme on Virgin Media One shone a stark light on what parents, teachers and health professionals have been warning us all about for some time, which is that vaping has become norm…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this debate. We can all agree that the hallmark, and the calling card, of big tobacco and big tobacco companies is their deep pockets and their seemingly endless supply of marketing budgets. It is for that reason that I distrust a significant amount of what is termed as "evidence" that has been emailed to me this week in relation to vaping and vaping products,…

I too welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation. At its core, I believe the Bill is about something we can all agree on. It is protecting public health. From speaking to my constituents and knowing someone who has vaped, nicotine is addictive. It is very addictive and I do not think anyone should be able to walk into a shop when they are paying their bills and see a giant green package …

As both a legislator and a doctor, I cannot overstate my concern at the rise of vaping among young people in Ireland. What began as a tool to help adults to quit smoking has been transformed into a product designed to recruit a new generation of nicotine users. The industry has succeeded in making vapes appear harmless, fashionable and accessible and the result is a surge in adolescent uptake. The…

This Bill is very welcome. It is very clear. The intention of it is something that I fully and totally support. It is very clear from a public policy perspective that we must do everything we can to protect children from nicotine addiction. That is what is intended here. It is set out very clearly. Last year, girls going to the debs were trying to get vapes to match the colour of their dresses. T…

I welcome this Bill. It is necessary and it is very important that we, as the Legislature, address the environmental impacts of disposable vapes. They are everywhere. Everybody knows that. They see them, particularly in town centres. They are even seen next to bins. They somehow do not seem to find their way into the bins but are littered around them. Those horrible stickers are put onto the bins …

It is amazing how the market changes. One issue that is now on the market is high puff count vaping devices. They have exploded onto the Irish market in a short period. They are known as carousel or click-on vape devices, but they are commonly known as “big puff”. While they do not breach existing laws because their tanks contain 2 ml of vape liquid, big puff disposable vapes are in clear breach o…

As both a doctor and TD, I wish to be very clear about what we are dealing with here. This is not a minor trend. This is the early stage of a new addiction epidemic. In Ireland today, one in three students has tried vaping and one in six is a current user. Among the under-25s, 11% are regularly e-cigarettes users, which is the highest of any age group. Most worrying of all, the majority of young p…

Thankfully, I have never smoked a cigarette in my life. With regard to tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products, I would support measures that would protect children by placing restrictions on both the advertising and display of such products, including how they are presented on the packaging of the products. Addiction to nicotine is a costly addiction, both in terms of a person's health a…

I want to make a few brief remarks, if I can. We will get through this very quickly. Obviously, I support the Bill. For a long time, I have been calling for a ban on single-use vapes and it makes sense for obvious reasons. There is an amendment that I have down that we will get to. I suspect the Government will not be accepting it but I will speak briefly to it. I want to quickly raise issues reg…

I thank all the Deputies who have spoken on this important Bill. The amendment seeks to change the existing definition of single-use vapes by alternating its construction. The intention of the existing definition in the Bill is to prohibit any vape which is not refillable or rechargeable. This means a vape must be both refillable and rechargeable to avoid prohibition. We are banning any vape which…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill this afternoon. It is really important. There is not a shop you can go to in the country where you will not see bins outside the door littered with these awful looking disposable vapes. There is also some kind of trend to stick the stickers peeled off the top of these disposable vapes all over the bin. They just seem to be everywhere. I will get to t…

I welcome the Bill but it is too slow in what it proposes to implement. The tobacco industry is very quick at coming up with new and innovative ways of delivering nicotine to individuals, getting them addicted to its products and keeping its bottom line very healthy while everyone else suffers from those products. Rather than waiting years to deal with these issues, we need to be much more proacti…

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this topic this evening, but like others I am frustrated, because it is another instance where we discuss something yet the regulatory vacuum still exists. This is our generation's version of big tobacco and it is preying on our children. Big tobacco is marketing to children on purpose and it is no secret the sale of e-cigarettes or vapes has boomed in recent y…

Vapes and nicotine products are the absolute bane of parents' lives. I have been contacted many times by parents asking what can be done about vapes, their contents, how they look and how they are sold. I am speaking not only as a TD but as a mother and somebody who has worked with children and young people for many decades. As previous contributors have said, school principals and school communit…

I sometimes wonder if this Government has the ability not to make a mess of everything. This Bill should be the most uncontroversial legislation to come before this House because there is political unanimity that children should not have access to vaping products, that there should be strong penalties for those who allow children access to such products, and that we should completely ban products …

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 flavo…

I am pleased to support the Bill, which will prohibit the sale of nicotine consumption products and the advertisement of nicotine inhaling products, particularly in retail outlets. It will deal with the point-of-sale display in mixed retail outlets. The colour and imagery of nicotine inhaling products will be restricted and the sale of the devices or the functioning of other products, such as toys…

On 2 January, I very happily celebrated 19 years without cigarettes. I did not vape; I do not think there were any vapes at that stage. If there were, they were very new. I was lucky and did not use chewing gum. I relied heavily on licorice all sorts, crisps and anything else I could get my hands on. The important thing is that I managed. Regrettably, I smoked my first cigarette - if my mother was…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on Second Stage of this Bill. At its core this legislation is about clear principles in protecting public health, especially the health of our young people, while tackling a growing environmental problem in our community. On that basis, I fully support the intent of the Bill. In my constituency, it is impossible to ignore the extent of the issue. Almost every to…

Tens of thousands of people in this country smoke cigarettes. Tens of thousands of people use vapes. Those are the facts. A lot of these people do so as a bit of a relaxant. We have to understand that is a fact in this country. We tend to think that we should ban everything. This Bill proposes a full ban on the sale of single-use vapes and when it comes to children, I fully agree that no child sh…

I certainly welcome this legislation. Vaping is both a public health and an environmental scourge. Many Tidy Towns groups are insisting that we get rid of these disposable vapes and the litter associated with them as quickly as possible. I want to focus on the public health elements of this legislation. Enforcement is critical and that we ensure when we introduce this legislation that we can enfor…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill from my perspective as Sinn Féin's spokesperson on education and youth. Sinn Féin supports a ban on single-use vapes. We have called for a ban for years. They are an environmental scourge and a public health concern. Their proliferation has been a testament to regulatory failure. While we support this specific measure, we must criticise the Governme…

This is another of these circumstances where we are going to have agreement there are absolute dangers with vapes. You do not ever have to go very far to find them. At times I probably do not even have to leave my own house, and that is the thing. We have seen the prevalence of vape use among young people, as well as other nicotine-related products such as nicotine pouches. We have also seen somet…

I welcome this Bill, which is to protect public health. Regulating access to e-cigarettes and nicotine products is essential. There is evidence on the risk of nicotine pouches - nicotine addiction, gum problems, mouth ulcers, dry mouth and hiccups, nausea and stomach problems, and nicotine poisoning. When we look at the growth in the market, the sales of nicotine pouches by P.J. Carroll and Co. g…