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 regarding a proposed parallel Bill that was signed off on by Cabinet yesterday, as I understand it, or at least the heads of which have been signed off on. There are some elements of that proposed Bill that I support because the thrust of it is that the vaping industry is targeting children in an unacceptable way and there is a move, as I understand it, by Government to ban flavours in relation to vapes. There are other elements that may be in that proposed Bill as well. I want to flag one concern I have in this area. I believe that anything that targets children, of course, we should intervene in, and we should act. There are all sorts of flavours. There are dozens of flavours of these vapes, many of which target children, for example, bubble gum and the obvious ones. There are others that are less targeted at children, but actually adults use them. I have engaged with many vape smokers and they tell me that if the ban was to apply to all flavours with the exception of tobacco, that would be a problem for them. The Minister of State should bear in mind that vaping is a cessation tool for some people to move away from smoking and what we do not want is that those people would go back to smoking if the only option is a tobacco-flavoured vape. If you have a different flavour that is not targeted at children but is being used by adults, that might be a step too far. I am merely saying that now. Obviously, we will have time at the health committee or whatever way the heads of Bill will come before us. That is not to take away from the substance of this Bill, which I support. As I said, I have one amendment that I will briefly speak to.

Sentiment score: -0.04

I support the intent behind Deputy Rice's amendment. We have seen in the sale of alcohol, for example, where the industry has tried to get around changes which were brought in in relation to the display of alcohol in supermarkets and shops. The industry, whether the tobacco industry, the vaping industry or the alcohol industry, will always be looking for ways to get around legislation that we bring in for specific and clear purposes. Deputy Rice is correct. It is important because this Bill is for one purpose only, that is, to ban single-use vapes. If it is the case then through some unintended consequence that the definition is not clear, that will allow the industry or people who sell vapes to get around that and, obviously, that would be problematic. I will await the Minister of State's response, and see what clarification comes from her. I am sure her officials will have a response to that and I am interested to hear what it is. I hope she will be able to allay fears because individuals have raised those concerns with me, which is why I am supporting the Deputy's amendment. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.

Sentiment score: 0.10

The Minister of State spoke on the issues I raised earlier relating to the parallel Bill signed off on by the Cabinet yesterday. I would support the vast majority of that Bill, or of what I saw reported of it. Banning the sale of pouches to under-18s is something I would support. Colour images and packaging geared towards children should be banned. Vapes that resemble toys and all of that should absolutely be banned. I have a slight concern about limiting the sale of flavours to just nicotine. I could give a number of examples of flavours that adults use and are not directed at children. This is not because there is lobbying coming from the sector. I have not been lobbied directly, to my knowledge, by it. I have spoken to vapers who say it is a concern. I would probably ban the vast majority of flavours. A better approach would be to allow the Minister to look at each flavour on a case-by-case basis. Some examples were given. That is a more common-sense approach and it would allow the Minister to make the decision. That is something we will debate during the passage of the next Bill. I would support the vast majority of what is in the Bill that was announced. It is just that part I have a small concern about.

Sentiment score: 0.03