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. That is the mentality we have to try to deal with. I welcome the proposals within this legislation to deal with the colour of vapes and the fact that they almost look like little toys. They are attractive in particular to younger people and children. We have a body of work to do to ensure the vast majority of people understand the danger. Of course there are people who smoke and who use vapes to get off smoking. We must recognise and acknowledge that vapes have a role to play as a means of progressing that. That is generally in the adult population - hopefully. We recognise the work that has been done to try to bring this Bill forward and to make it as proportionate as possible to deal with these issues. The flavours are another issue involved in it as well. I refer to bubblegum flavour and other such flavours. Again, that is to make it more attractive to children. That is something that badly needs to be addressed and banned. The notion of banning all flavours, in particular for adults, is something I would encourage the Minister to re-examine and to consider from an adult perspective. That is something that needs to be considered because we do not want a situation where we bring in something to deal with children's health that may, in effect, mean that adults would probably prefer to smoke cigarettes rather than using vapes, when we know that vapes are not as dangerous. There is a little bit of work to be done there. I welcome anything that can be done in respect of that. The reality is that addiction to whatever substance it may be is a huge problem for society. Often it is nicotine. A lot of children are drinking too much as well. We have issues with alcohol use. Alcohol has been a huge problem in Irish society, not just for decades but for generations. In this country we seem to have a set of people who have particularly addictive personalities. That is something we all recognise and understand. It is something that seems to be in the Irish psyche. The more education and awareness people have, and the earlier we realise that it is a trait in Irish society that we have to deal with, the better we can deal with it. For that reason, this legislation is very welcome. It moves us in the right direction. The tobacco companies are the ones behind all of this, including the marketing efforts. The vaping industry is part of their industry. The way they market, coerce and control all of that is something that has to be tightly regulated and dealt with. For that reason, the legislation we are bringing forward is most welcome. Nicotine pouches are something we recognise as having huge problems and issues down the road and they need to be dealt with urgently. I again welcome their inclusion in this legislation. We have a distance to go in regard to making sure that we get the balance right and that we do not annoy, isolate or put people off, in particular adults who may choose to use vapes as a means of getting away from smoking. That is something that needs to be considered. I encourage the Minister to take that on board as the Bill progresses and to see if slight changes or variations could be made to make sure that does not happen.

Sentiment score: 0.21