Ban on disposable vapes set, while nicotine pouches circle the drain
Disposable vapes set to be banned while the minister considered options for regulations on nicotine pouches. Stock Image.
Earlier this month, the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 went to the second stage in Dáil.
The bill will ban single-use vapes in an effort to address environmental and children’s health concerns.
The bill will make vaping more expensive and less attractive to children and will reduce if not stop the littering of the brightly coloured containers in public places.
But that’s not all.
The Public Health (tobacco and nicotine-inhaling products) amendment bill is expected in 2026.
That bill will introduce measures on nicotine pouches.
Following the presentation from the Mooncoin Drug Awareness Parish Programme, we spoke to the Minister for State with responsibility for Public Health, Well Being and the National Drugs Strategy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor and asked if she intends to ban them altogether or just place restrictions on sales.
But she said we would have to wait for the bill.
“The first bill will be on the banning of disposable vapes, but the second bill will include that, and at the moment, that is being worked on,” said Minister O’Connor.
Minister O’Connor also said in Mooncoin that the first draft of the National Drugs Strategy is imminent and could be in place by the middle of 2026.
The last strategy came into effect in 2017 and expired this year.
But the minister said that drugs are changing, so the strategy needs to as well.
She said that in developing the strategy, she wants to include as many people as possible.
“With the new strategy I hope to launch maybe in the middle of next year, we will review it and look at it every two years because you know drugs are changing. We can’t be in a position where it is ten years on, and we are doing the new drugs strategy.
“So again, yes, we are talking to everyone, we are talking to families, we are talking to everybody because it is important and we are at the moment looking at putting it out for public consultation. We don’t know on that, but we are looking at all avenues to see what we can do,” said Minister O’Connor.
The Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 will make it an offence to sell single-use vapes in the state.
If found guilty, a seller may face a fine or up to six-months in prison for a first offence and up to 12 months for a second offence, as well as a fine.
The bill was published in November.
The government also gave permission for a law restricting the sale and advertising of nicotine pouches and the appearance of vapes so they no longer look like toys or sweets.
The Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, suggested earlier this year that she was in favour of banning pouches.
But it would appear the new legislation is intended to prohibit the sale to minors and to stop the product from being displayed in mixed retail outlets.
However, the bill in development, which will be called the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) (Amendment) Bill, will apply to future nicotine products that may become available in the future.
Nicotine pouches are small white bags containing a white powder made from nicotine, flavourings and preservatives.
The pouches are placed under the lip for around 30 minutes the nicotine is absorbed by the mouth.
The World Health Organisation does not classify nicotine as a carcinogen, which means it isn’t thought to cause cancer.
But that does not mean it isn’t harmful, especially to young people under 18 years and those who are pregnant.
For people who are pregnant, nicotine has been linked to miscarriage, stillbirth and preterm birth, as well as several pregnancy-related health conditions.
Nicotine has been linked to attention and learning difficulties, mental health conditions and use of other substances for children and young people.
The Waterford News and Star reported in March that nicotine pouches, as well as vapes that do not meet the standards of current legislation, are readily available in shops across the city.
Illegal vapes were often in full view in shop windows, which suggests a lack of enforcement of legislation already in place.
Nicotine pouches were not just available in newsagents, supermarkets, and vape shops, but also in tech stores and sweet shops.
The pouches we examined contained up to 12mg of nicotine per pouch.
A since vape contains 20mg, which is 600 puffs.
The lack of regulation on nicotine pouches means that there is no restriction on who can buy or sell them.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health told the Waterford News and Star in March that there is no regulation on the sale of nicotine pouches, but they were monitoring research.
“Nicotine pouches are currently not covered by domestic or EU tobacco control legislation.
“The regulation of nicotine pouches is being discussed at the EU level, both in terms of how these products are categorised and in the context of the review of the Tobacco Products Directive. There is little independent evidence available regarding any health harms from nicotine pouches, though they contain nicotine, which is an addictive substance,” said the spokesperson.
