Press release
Minister for Health commences law to ban the sale of tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products by self-service
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has today commenced sections of the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act 2023 that introduce a ban on the sale by self-service of tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products such as e-cigarettes.
The prohibition will come into effect in September 2025, allowing time for all affected businesses to prepare for the change. It is the latest in a series of measures designed to protect the population from the health harms associated with tobacco and nicotine inhaling products.
Current law on the sale of tobacco products through vending machines requires the use of discs or cards obtained from staff and also requires oversight by staff. However, evidence from the National Environmental Health Service, the enforcement authority for the tobacco control law, shows that self-service vending machines are consistently more accessible to minors than over the counter sales.
Prohibiting the sale of tobacco products from self-service vending machines is a recommendation of Ireland’s national tobacco control policy, Tobacco Free Ireland and is in line with the Programme for Government commitment to restrict the types of retailers that sell these products.
Minister Donnelly said:
"On World No Tobacco Day, I am bringing into operation further elements of our overall tobacco control strategy. We are continuing to denormalise the sale of tobacco products to make it clear that a product that kills one out of every two of its users is not like other consumer products. We are also banning the sale of nicotine inhaling products by self-service to further tighten the availability and the advertising of these products."
Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Colm Burke said:
"I welcome these further measures as part of our overall strategy to reach a tobacco-free Ireland. There is evidence that the density of retail outlets selling tobacco products is associated with youth smoking and is a risk factor for relapse by smokers who have quit so reducing that density is an important step to protect our young people and to assist those who have made the important decision to quit."
Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, to which Ireland is a Party, requires a comprehensive ban of all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. The guidance on the implementation of Article 13 clarifies that vending machines constitute, by their very presence, a means of advertising or promotion.
Two thirds of Parties to the WHO Convention have already banned the sales of tobacco products from vending machines. Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland introduced the ban over 10 years ago.
In March 2024, Minister Donnelly commenced further sections of the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act 2023 which strengthen the protection of children from tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products. These provisions will ban the sale of these products at events aimed at children and prohibit advertising for nicotine inhaling products around cinema films for children, on public service vehicles and at stops or stations and within 200 metres of a school.