I welcome the opportunity to speak on Second Stage of this Bill. At its core this legislation is about clear principles in protecting public health, especially the health of our young people, while tackling a growing environmental problem in our community. On that basis, I fully support the intent of the Bill. In my constituency, it is impossible to ignore the extent of the issue. Almost every town and village has at least one vape shop. Never before has nicotine been so accessible in our society and with that accessibility comes serious societal and environmental consequences. In Galway East communities take enormous pride in initiatives like Tidy Towns and in keeping our towns and villages clean, yet disposable vapes are now a common sight on our streets, in hedgerows, near our schools and in our playgrounds. You cannot walk down the street without seeing a discarded single-use vape. These products contain plastics, electronics and lithium batteries and do not belong in our environment. This Bill takes an important step towards removing harmful and wasteful products from our streets. The public health concern is even more pressing. Despite age restrictions these products are finding their way into the hands of young people, often in brightly packaged, fruit-flavoured forms clearly designed to appeal to them. Ireland has worked hard over the decades to reduce smoking and nicotine use but sleek devices, sweet flavours, aggressive marketing and a presence in popular media are now undoing much of that great progress. What was once marketed as a smoking-cessation tool for adults has normalised nicotine use among young people and thereby created habits that risk lasting a lifetime. The Bill fits squarely within the wider public health direction. While vaping is often presented as harmless nicotine addiction remains a serious concern, especially for adolescents. Galway East has a modest youth population yet there are a striking number of vape shops operating from small country villages to the city centre and we must ask what is sustaining the level of that supply. The sheer availability of these products highlights that legislation alone is not enough. We need strong enforcement and that will be critical in combatting this. Second Stage is agreeing the principle of the Bill and the principle here is sound. If we are serious about protecting our young people, reducing nicotine addiction and addressing the environmental damage caused by disposable vapes action is required. The task ahead is to ensure this legislation is implemented properly, resourced adequately and enforced consistently in every community. Our responsibility is to safeguard public health, protect our environment and ensure the hard-won progress made in reducing nicotine use is not lost with a new generation.

Sentiment score: 0.22