Across the European Union, Member States have been moving to ban single-use disposable vapes – and Ireland could be next. In September 2024, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly received approval from the Government to draft an amendment to the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act 2023. The amendment would include a ban on disposable vapes and on all vape flavours other than tobacco.
The framework for Donnelly’s proposed amendment has already been laid out and is available for viewing online.
If you vape, this legislation has the potential to greatly reduce what products are available for you to buy. Would these changes drive you back to smoking? Now is the time to contact your TDs and Senators and voice your concerns.
How Would Ireland’s Ban on Disposable Vapes and Vape Flavours Work?
Minister Donnelly’s proposed legislation would ban disposable vapes in Ireland, and it would also do quite a lot more. The proposal, in fact, would give Ireland the strictest vaping regulations of all EU Member States.
If the legislation is passed as it is:
- Disposable vapes would be banned in Ireland, meaning all vapes that can’t be both refilled and recharged would be illegal.
- All vape liquids with flavours other than tobacco would be illegal.
- All vapes with coloured designs and other eye-catching features like animated displays would be banned. Colours would be illegal unless they’re necessary for the device’s basic functions or safety features.
When Could the Ban Happen?
As of now, the legislation for the ban on disposable vapes and vape flavours has not been written and exists only in the form of the proposed outline linked to above. Once the bill is written and introduced, it will need to be passed by the Dáil and the Seanad before it can be signed by the President.
After the law is enacted, there will probably be a grace period allowing retailers to clear out their remaining stocks.
It is likely that Ireland will enact the ban in 2025. The disposable vape ban seems to have broad support from all parties, and Taoiseach Simon Harris has directed the Government to get it passed quickly.
Whether the proposed flavour ban has the same level of support is unclear.
Why Is Ireland Banning Disposable Vapes?
The Irish Government is moving to ban disposable vapes for two key reasons: the potential for youth appeal and the impact on the environment.
- According to data released by the Institute of Public Health, 13 percent of teens aged 12-17 reported in a 2022 survey that they had vaped in the last 30 days. This represented an increase of four percentage points compared to a similar survey conducted in 2018. Although disposable vapes increased greatly in popularity during that time span, the surveys did not collect data on the types of vapes used by teen vapers.
- Although WEEE Ireland offers free vape recycling services, many people improperly throw used vapes away in their household rubbish instead of recycling them. Disposable vapes have also caused a proliferation of toxic litter. Although there is no data on how many disposable vapes are thrown away in Ireland, the number is estimated to exceed hundreds of millions of vapes per year in the United Kingdom. In addition to being a serious potential groundwater pollutant, the lithium in disposable vapes could be reclaimed and used in the production of new batteries.
Potential Precursor to Broader EU Vape Regulations
The proposed ban on disposable vapes in Ireland could potentially be a precursor to broader restrictions on vapes across the EU. Two EU Member States – Belgium and France – have already banned disposable vapes. Restrictions on vape flavours also exist in several EU States including Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Hungary. The EU is in the process of considering new regulations that would ban flavoured vapes in all Member States.
What Are Ireland’s Vape Shops Doing to Prepare for the Ban?
Paras Parmar – owner of The Vape Life in Dublin – says that he has already begun to see a shift in consumer interest away from traditional disposable vapes. “Disposable vapes are convenient,” Parmar said, “but they’re not as competitive on cost with tobacco cigarettes as they could be because they only contain 2 ml of e-liquid. That’s barely enough for a day or two, and then you need to buy an entirely new device.”
According to Parmar, many former smokers who initially used disposable vapes to wean themselves off of cigarettes are now using refillable vapes such as Aspire vape kits to save money.
Otherwise, Parmar says that local vape shops seem to be in a holding pattern. “We don’t know whether the ban will be passed exactly as proposed. Until that happens, the only logical move is to stock what consumers want to buy.”
What Vaping Products Will Be Legal After the Ban?
If the legislation passes exactly as proposed by Minister Donnelly, many – perhaps even most – of the vaping devices sold in Ireland would no longer be legal. That’s because, in addition to banning all vapes that aren’t both refillable and rechargeable, the law would ban all vapes with colours that aren’t necessary for safety or basic functioning.
It’s likely that many of the vaping devices currently available would need to be redesigned and reintroduced in new variants made specifically for the Irish market. Whether most manufacturers would consider that a worthwhile expense remains to be seen.
Is There Any Way to Prevent a Ban on Vape Flavours in Ireland?
The process of banning disposable vapes and vape flavours in Ireland hasn’t begun in earnest as the proposed legislation has yet to be written. Although many members of the Government have voiced support for a ban on disposable vapes, it isn’t clear whether most are in favour of a ban on flavours.
There is substantial evidence to support the fact that vape flavour bans don’t serve their intended purpose. Flavour bans increase smoking rates and drive people to obtain vapes from illegal sources.
- A 2024 report published in the journal JAMA Health Forum examined a survey dataset obtained from nearly 377,000 individuals aged 18-29 and found that vape flavour bans increase smoking rates by 2.2 percentage points in that age group.
- In a survey of 1,624 people conducted after the U.S. States of Washington, New Jersey and New York banned vape flavours, 50.8 percent of respondents in those states reported that they were still using flavoured vapes – sometimes from illegal and potentially dangerous sources.
- In another survey of 1,253 individuals aged 18-34 living in U.S. states with flavour bans, 12.5 percent reported that they vaped prior to the bans but had since switched to combustible cigarettes.
Public feedback could potentially play a role in influencing the restrictions that are and aren’t included in the final bill. If you believe that a ban on flavoured vapes isn’t the right decision for public health in Ireland, now is the time to contact your representatives and voice your concerns.
