HSE to research restricting vapes to just pharmacies

The HSE is to conduct research into the potential effects of limiting the sale of vape products to pharmacies. The move comes following a motion passed at the latest meeting of the HSE’s Regional Health Forum South-West.

Cllr Peter Horgan, who proposed the motion, said that a presentation given to members of the forum on the impacts of vaping a few months ago “haunts my brain every second night”.

The Labour Party councillor asked that the HSE conduct the research after similar restrictions have been brought into place in Australia.

Australia restricted vape products to pharmacies in July 2024.

They can be bought by adults without a prescription, and by under 18s with a prescription where it is deemed medically appropriate.

The move has led to an increase in black market supply of vape products.

It was reported last year by The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners that less than 170 non-prescription vapes were being bought each day in Australian pharmacies, while the Australian Border Force seized more than 7 million illicit vapes in 2024 alone.

The potential of an increase in the black market has been raised by tobacco industry lobbyists as an argument against an outright ban.

A report by the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland found that the tobacco and vaping industries maintained “a persistent and influential presence within policy making circles, often overshadowing health advocates”.

Tobacco industry lobbyists, while advocating for greater waste-management measures to reduce the environmental impact of smoking, rejected an outright ban, citing concerns over “illicit trade”.

However, Cllr Horgan said that in Australia there were similar concerns over illegal trade, but that this trade has had the effect of driving up prices of vape products, putting them out of the financial reach of young people.

“It’s had the intended consequence of taking young people - the future customers of these tobacco organisations - out of their control,” he said.

The sale of vapes to under 18s was banned in Ireland in 2023, but one in five young people still use them. In November 2024, the legal age to buy tobacco products was raised to 21. A bill to ban the sale of disposable vapes - the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 - has also been passed by the Dáil and is currently in the Seanad.

This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.