Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-04
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Pádraig Rice (SD), Cork South-Central

I want to voice my objection to the process here. It is poor form. We had it repeated last week, and again this week, in terms of the Government taking Committee Stage of legislation in the Dáil as opposed to at committee. As Chair of the health committee, I received a letter essentially telling me that my committee was too busy to even consider this issue, without any real engagement with the committee about our schedule or willingness to take this at committee. We would have been willing to take this at committee - it will be a short debate. We could have done this at committee. We did not need to keep all the TDs later here tonight to do this. We had it last week on the International Protection Bill. It is poor form. We have a dysfunctional Dáil. We need to take seriously how we order business in the House because it is not good enough and it needs urgent reform. I would ask the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach to pass that on to the Ceann Comhairle because it is an important point.
I also welcome the progress on this Bill and the other proposed legislation. The two probably should have come together in one. However, like Deputy Cullinane, I welcome the move that has been made there and echo the sentiment. There is potential to limit it to maybe two flavours, or menthol, mint or something else, in order to ensure that people use vapes as a cessation tool. I welcome that progress having been made, in particular, that children will not be targeted by the advertising of those kinds of flavours because there is a real issue. I had a transition year student in my office recently who talked to me about 12-year-olds vaping in school and passing vapes around a primary school. It is a real issue. We have left it go too long and I am glad to see we have got progress on it tonight.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-04/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:43+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-04