Minister for Health enforces immediate ban on selling nicotine products to minors

The ban comes into effect from December 22 2023 with penalties of up to €4,000 and a potential six-month imprisonment

Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly commenced section 28 of the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act to prohibit the sale of nicotine inhaling products such as e-cigarettes (commonly referred to as vapes) to persons under 18.

The new law comes into effect from Friday 22 December 2023.

It is an offence to sell a nicotine inhaling product to a child. The offence carries a penalty of a fine of up to €4,000 and / up to a six-month term of imprisonment.

Minister Donnelly, said: “I committed to bringing this ban on the sale of vaping products to under 18s into law before Christmas and I am pleased that I have been able to do that by signing the commencement order. I thank colleagues in both Houses of the Oireachtas who understood the urgency for our children and who supported me to get this law enacted quickly.

“In 2024 I will commence the remaining measures in the Act (such as around advertising, a licensing system and vending machines) and we will examine the results of our public consultation on the further regulation of e-cigarettes and on some innovative proposals in tobacco control.”

Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Hildegarde Naughton, said: “I look forward to the results of our public consultation on the options for the further regulation of nicotine inhaling products, particularly around flavourings and packaging. The protection of children is at the centre of our national tobacco control policy, Tobacco Free Ireland, and I welcome this major step forward in that direction. 

“We know that young people who vape are more likely to go on to smoke, so it is important that they are not drawn to these products.”