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 move amendment No. 1:
In page 6, to delete lines 5 to 8 and substitute the following:
" "single-use vape" means a vape that is not designed or intended to be re-used and includes any vape that is neither refillable nor rechargeable.".
The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that the definition of "single-use vape" is watertight and that fake disposables do not make it through. I continue to have a concern, which I raised on Second Stage, about the use of "or" in the definition of "single-use vape" and the possibility that it will be exploited by vaping manufacturers and suppliers.
The current definition reads:
“single-use vape” means a vape that is not designed or intended to be re-used and includes any vape that is—
(a) not refillable, or
(b) not rechargeable;
The "not refillable, or not rechargeable" suggests choice, that is, not a disposable if it can either be refilled or recharged. This is why have suggested, "neither refillable nor rechargeable", in my amendment. This connects two negative possibilities rather than one option between both.
The issue is that disposable vapes are now being sold with so-called "charging ports" to give the impression that they are reusable, but most are not, or at least not for more than a week. I have an example here. This vape has a little charging port on it. You can pull it out. It looks like it is refillable but it is actually not refillable in any way and the charging port is only there for show, to make it look like it is rechargeable. Many disposable vapes are being sold with those detachable pods to give the impression that they are refillable but it is purely a token feature. It has been used to get around the legislation in other countries. Even if these were usable, there is very little incentive to do so as they cost approximately €10. We have already seen similar loopholes exploited in the UK and manufacturers will no doubt exploit the exact same one in this jurisdiction.
I am not saying that the amendment is a silver bullet but the Minister of State and I could work together to ensure that the legislation is robust and watertight. We must make sure that the ban is not rendered completely ineffective on day one thanks to the proliferation of these fake reusable vapes.

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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