Tobacco age limit rises, while vapes are still accessible

The Government has officially approved legislation to increase the minimum legal age of sale of tobacco products to 21.

The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly T.D., announced that the Government has approved the legislation.

The Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024 will now be brought forward for enactment.

Minister Donnelly, said:

“As a society, it’s time that we moved forward on this issue. Tobacco smoking continues to kill 4,500 of our people every year and remains the biggest single cause of disability and death combined in our country.

“My goal with this measure is to assist our young people to avoid a lifetime of addiction and illness from tobacco smoking.

The modelling shows us that this measure will not only protect the targeted age group and but will also protect those under 18 as they will be less likely to be in social groups with 21 year olds who can legally purchase cigarettes."

Controversially, the proposed legislation will not impact the minimum legal age of sale of nicotine inhaling products or vapes.

Since December, the sale of vapes to under 18's has been banned. Yet simultaneously, the number of teenagers vaping has never been higher.

Figures from Foróige Sligo show that 1 in every 3 teenagers aged 13-16 are addicted to nicotine vapes, having never smoked cigarettes beforehand.

1 in 5 (23%) of 10-12 year olds are currently vaping.

In comparison, a 2022 study by the Health Research Board found that of children aged 9-18, only 4% of boys and 5% of girls report that they are current tobacco smokers.

The HRB study shows that e-cigarette use is about twice as common as tobacco smoking.

Ireland will be the first EU country to introduce this measure. A lead-in time will be implemented so that those already entitled to be sold tobacco products, i.e. persons over 18 but under 21, will not be affected.

The measure is being introduced in order to accelerate the decline in adult smoking prevalence, which has plateaued at 18% for several years. It is also among a series of measures designed to reduce smoking prevalence among children to zero.

The Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Colm Burke T.D, said:

“I welcome Government approval of this very important public health measure.

The damage caused by combustible tobacco smoking is catastrophic, causing many illnesses and leading to shorter life expectancy, so we must take decisive action to ensure that we can protect our young people. 

"This new measure will help the next generation to avoid the many burdens associated with smoking and support them to live longer, healthier lives.  I look forward to working with the Minister for Health to bring this law into operation as soon as possible.”

Ireland aims to become the first country in the EU to raise the minimum age of sale of tobacco products to 21. Latvia has enacted law to raise the minimum age of sale to 20 in 2025.