Gillian Toole

Overall sentiment: 0.04
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I welcome the introduction of this Bill. I concur with colleagues. The willingness to accept amendments on Committee Stage will be most important. If that can be enabled, it would be a move in a strong and positive direction. This is something that parents, children, teenagers, teachers, Tidy Towns volunteers and public health professionals are strongly in favour of. I commend the Minister of State on the work that has been done to date. The devil will be in the detail. Nicotine, no matter what way it is dressed up, whether it is in a pouch, in a single-use or a continuous-product, is addictive. It is a gateway drug. The most concerning aspect of the contents of these products is the additional items, namely, propylene glycol, formaldehyde, benzine, heavy metals such as lead, nickel and cadmium, and the ultrafine particles. This is where the devil is in the detail and where the respiratory and the carcinogenic effects are most prevalent and dangerous. I disagree completely with the points that have been made in relation to substitution and vaping being a substitute for smoking. We have nicotine replacement therapy minus these other chemicals. That is where the emphasis needs to be placed. In terms of supporting people stepping down and stepping away from these products, there will have to be a concurrent support for people to step over and to step up to the use of nicotine replacement therapy through the community pharmacy network. I will speak particularly about Meath Comhairle na nÓg, the young people's version of Meath County Council. It carried out a poster campaign and has had various surveys and a video campaign on the harm of drugs. It also included vaping in that. Young people are crying out for support. I flag the necessity for inspection of the youth support services in conjunction with nicotine replacement services that are going to be required to make sure that they are available at the same time or shortly after the banning of the product because young people are addicted to nicotine and withdrawal effects will have to be dealt with. There is a broader issue in the regard around mental health, advertising and the safeguards, which will all be best saved for in-depth discussion on Committee Stage. Given the season and the prevalence of respiratory illnesses be they RSV or influenza-----

Sentiment score: 0.09

I so move.

Sentiment score: 0.00