Results 61-80 of 1,151,962 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Róisín Shortall OR speaker:Kieran O'Donnell OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Aodhán Ó Ríordáin OR speaker:Colm Burke OR speaker:Darragh O'Brien OR speaker:Michael Collins OR speaker:Thomas Gould OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe OR speaker:Seán Crowe OR speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Neale Richmond OR speaker:Bernard Durkan OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice OR speaker:Denis Naughten OR speaker:Chris Andrews OR speaker:Micheál Martin OR speaker:Neasa Hourigan OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:Martin Browne OR speaker:Pa Daly OR speaker:Pippa Hackett OR speaker:Patrick O'Donovan OR speaker:Michael McGrath OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Duncan Smith OR speaker:Alan Farrell OR speaker:Imelda Munster OR speaker:James Browne OR speaker:Emer Higgins OR speaker:Colm Brophy OR speaker:Helen McEntee OR speaker:David Stanton OR speaker:David Cullinane)

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Seán Crowe: I will get straight into it. Two amendments have been ruled out of order and this has been communicated to the Deputy.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Seán Crowe: Amendments Nos. 1 and 3 in the name of Deputy Cullinane have been ruled out of order as they are in conflict with the principle of the Bill.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 2: In page 6, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “Report on De-Nicotinisation and Smoking Cessation Supports 11. The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, conduct a review, to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas within 12 months of the passing of this Act, to examine and propose measures regarding gradual...

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Seán Crowe: Does anyone else wish to come in on this?

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: It is hard to say. The Minister has pronounced it well.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Apologies for being late, but I was speaking on the statements on mental health and it was an unfortunate clash. Regarding smoking cessation supports, over the last two years this committee has dealt a lot with vaping and smoking. We urge the Minister to accelerate the production of the legislation to deal with the flavours and disposable vapes which we called for at this committee over...

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: We are getting mixed messages on this issue, at the very least, and also mixed objectives. The Minister said there is emerging evidence of harm to adults from vaping. I have not seen that evidence. It would be interesting to see it. However, such evidence is relative. Is it indicating that vaping is more dangerous than smoking to adult smokers?

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: If vaping is less dangerous than smoking, we should be encouraging people to vape in an attempt to get off cigarettes. We have talked about the importance of ensuring nicotine chewing gum remains affordable because it is an important tool in giving up cigarettes. Why would the Minister for Finance interfere in what is, in essence, a public health matter? It sounds a bit like the Government...

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Does the Minister see no role for vaping in smoking cessation? I have never previously heard this theory. Is that what he is saying?

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: That is fine but why is the Minister discouraging vaping for smokers if, as he said, smoking is far more damaging than vaping?

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: That does not make sense in the real world. Is any other country taking this approach? It would be great if nobody smoked but the reality, unfortunately, is that lots of people still smoke and it does them damage. The Minister is saying that we know anecdotally that smokers who use vaping as a means of ceasing smoking, or at least reducing it, find it very beneficial. Is that something to...

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: That is in an ideal world. Presumably, the public health view is not really to move from smoking to nicotine replacement; it is to stop smoking.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: However, that is not easy to do.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: That is overly purist. I do not understand that approach.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Seán Crowe: I ask that we confine discussion to the amendment that is before us.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: I agree that this is a purist position. I understand the logic of it but I agree we have to live in the real world. When we were discussing the Bill within my party, I spoke to former smokers who said that, without vaping, they would still be smoking. That is particularly relevant in the context of Bills being brought forward that deal specifically with vaping. The public health view...

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Seán Crowe: Does the Minister want to respond to Deputy Cullinane now or should I bring in another speaker?

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: I have a very quick comment on the point about living in the real world. In the lifetime of the Government, we have seen, for the first time in 25 years, an increase in young people starting to smoke and vape. We are talking about nicotine replacement therapy or treatment as a temporary issue, but that is not what we are talking about when we talk about vaping. We are talking about...

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: It is not a case of either-or.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: It is not a question for the Minister.