Results 1-20 of 1,075,475 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Róisín Shortall OR speaker:Jennifer Murnane O'Connor OR speaker:Stephen Donnelly OR speaker:Brendan Griffin OR speaker:Verona Murphy OR speaker:Michael Collins OR speaker:Noel Grealish OR speaker:Thomas Byrne OR speaker:Ivana Bacik OR speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice OR speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe OR speaker:Seán Crowe) in 'Committee meetings'

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

Seán Crowe: We have received no apologies. The meeting is being convened to consider the Committee Stage of the Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2024. The primary objective of the Bill is to increase the minimum age of sale of tobacco products to 21. The Bill also provides that current penalties for anyone convicted of selling tobacco products to people under the age of 18 will be extended to...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I do not have an opening statement prepared. I thank the committee for facilitating today. I was keen for us to accelerate this legislation on the off-chance that the election is not in March of next year. It has the potential to save an awful lot of lives over many, many years. I thank colleagues for facilitating the session today.

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)

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)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank Deputy Cullinane. I agree with the broad thrust of what the amendments do, which is in part to say, let us continue with the targeted research and also to explore other ways we can reduce harm. One of the specific ways the Deputy has looked at is the reduction of nicotine content or "denicotinisation", which is a new word to me.

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

Stephen Donnelly: I agree with the thrust of what Deputy Cullinane is trying to achieve. I am not going to accept the amendments, not because I do not agree with what he is saying, but because we can go broader than this. I got a briefing from the Department in response to the Deputy's amendments. There are two points to make. One is we are doing the research all the time. The research is ongoing, be it...

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)

Stephen Donnelly: On 10 September, I brought a memorandum to the Cabinet on the proposed vaping legislation. I now have Government approval to draft the Bill. A comprehensive heads of Bill document is in place. My officials, including the two officials with me today, have put a lot of work into that. It was more complex than I originally envisaged. When we are restricting packaging and colouring, there is...

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)

Stephen Donnelly: No. It is the opposite.

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)

Stephen Donnelly: The official advice from the HSE for smokers is not to take up vaping but to use nicotine replacement therapy, NRT. As the Deputy is aware, we have made those products free. The initial indications are positive in terms of the impact that is having. What the Minister, Deputy Chambers, did by way of taxation is consistent with our public health position, which is not to move people from...

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)

Stephen Donnelly: The HSE view, and, obviously, it knows what it is talking about from a clinical perspective, is that the way to help people give up smoking is through smoking cessation programmes, NRT, etc. Speaking personally, I know people who have moved from cigarettes to vapes. I believe them when they say that if vapes did not exist, they would be smoking. In the UK, there is a focus on vaping as an...

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)

Stephen Donnelly: The HSE's position is not based around smoking versus vaping; it is about smoking versus not smoking through NRT.

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)

Stephen Donnelly: No, I heard and understand the Deputy's point. The public health view is not to encourage people to move from smoking to vaping.

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.