Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) (Amendment) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-24
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Pádraig Rice (SD), Cork South-Central

I am not convinced that we should not be doing this now. As I said, we will be back here trying to do it anyway. I do not see a reason for that, other than the fact that there would be a delay. That seems to be part of the EU process. It appears that we will have to legislate in any event and will be back here with another Bill.
I do not accept the argument from the Minister of State that we are only hearing about these matters now. My party and my colleague Deputy Whitmore have raised this point repeatedly in the media and in the House over a number of years. This is not new; it is not something we came up with last week. There has been concern about the use of nicotine pouches by teenagers in schools. We have flagged this concern, but it is clear that we are not being listened to when we make contributions in the Dáil. Ministers and their officials do not listen to us. We then end up with legislation that is defective and that needs to be improved. It is not just me saying that; it is also the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation. Very well respected national organisations which campaign on these issues have stated that there is a gap in our law and that we should proceed with our amendment. I would like to see these amendments being progressed.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-24