The selling of vaping products to those aged 18 and under is due to be banned by mid-July.

The Irish Times has reported that Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is due to take a memo forward to Cabinet tomorrow, which will see him outline the full proposed legislation, which will reportedly be prioritised by government.

The new legislation will prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to those under 18, and is planned to be introduced before the Dáil’s summer recess in mid-July.

A restriction on the types of retailers that are able to sell vapes or nicotine-inhaling products is included in the proposed legislation.

Measures to curtail the advertising of these products near schools and other settings that see a large number of children and young adults frequent them are also included  in the hope to limit young peoples’ exposure to messages that normalise or glamorise vaping.

The Irish Times has also reported that Minister Donnelly will use recently published surveys like the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey conducted in 2018 and 2019’s European Schools Project on Alcohol and other Drugs study, to demonstrate evidence that adolescent nicotine exposure can have long-term consequences for brain development.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are currently 16,000 different flavours of vapes.

The Government retains concerns that vaping acts as a “gateway to smoking”, as reported by The Irish Times.

The publication also outlined how the Oireachtas Committee on Health was previously told that the colourful packaging and fruity flavours were specifically targeting teenagers, and is a major contributing factor to the rise in young people vaping.

Ireland is the latest country to follow suit in a worldwide trend that has seen countries tighten the laws surrounding the sale and advertising of e-cigarette products.

Earlier this month, Australia became the latest country to ban recreational vaping, and regulate other aspects of e-cigarette laws. In Europe, Ireland will join the likes of Belgium, France and Germany who have already banned the sale of e-cigarettes to adolescents.