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The proposed ban on flavoured vapes — and curbing the colours used in packaging — has passed through the Dáil
The Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) (Amendment) Bill 2026 passed final stage in the Dáil and will be sent to the Seanad. Picture: iStock
A new law which will see a ban on flavoured vapes and limits on the colours used in packaging moved a step closer as it passed through the Dáil.
The Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) (Amendment) Bill 2026 passed final stage in the Dáil and will be sent to the Seanad, where it will be debated in July. The Government will receive EU notification in the coming weeks on whether the bill can be enacted before the summer recess.
The bill will further regulate nicotine vaping products and introduce measures to address other "novel" nicotine products such as nicotine pouches. It will:
- Prohibit the sale of nicotine consumption products, such as pouches, to those under 18;
- Prohibit the advertising of nicotine inhaling products like vapes and nicotine consumption products in all retail outlets, and prohibit their point-of-sale display in mixed retail outlets;
- Restrict colours and imagery on nicotine inhaling product devices and packaging;
- Ban all flavour descriptors and language other than basic flavour names for vapes;
- Limit flavours in nicotine inhaling products to tobacco or non-flavoured.
During the short Dáil debate on Wednesday night, Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice pushed for the inclusion of nicotine pouches in the restrictions on packaging.
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He said that they are currently "displayed in shops with bright, colourful packaging" and were becoming more and more popular with teenagers. He said that the most common age for children to begin using these products was 15 and that it would be "efficient" if the Government would accept the amendment to the bill.
Junior health minister Jennifer Murnane O'Connor said that the bill already contained restrictions on pouches and allowing the amendment would require a new notification to the EU and would delay the bill from being in full operation by the end of the year. She said that accepting Mr Rice's amendment would delay the bill by up to a year.
'Future-proofed' legislation
A Department of Health statement said when the bill was published in March that the inclusion of legislation on novel nicotine products is designed to be "future-proofed" and will apply not only to products currently on the market but also any new nicotine products that emerge.
In an Oireachtas Health Committee hearing last month, Ms Murnane O'Connor said that she was aware of concerns around the use of nicotine products by children.
“I hear it myself from parents and teachers constantly.
"It is important that we intervene. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance, and evidence shows that young people who vape are more likely to take up smoking.”
Ms Murnane O'Connor added: “I understand that the measures we are bringing in this bill will have impacts on some businesses, but we are working here to protect the health of our children and all our people, so that means our decisions are evidence-based and they are health-led.”
- Paul Hosford, Deputy Political Editor
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