Councillor wants Minister lobbied to ban vaping in public places

A CLLR concerned about the rise in popularity of vaping amongst young people has called for an outright ban on single use vapes as well as a ban on vaping in all enclosed public places.

Cllr Liam Madden (FG) raised the issue at a meeting of the local authority last week and asked that laws similar to the ban on smoking in public places be introduced as a matter of urgency.

‘There are 60,000 different flavour of vapes out there and statistics out there show that children who have vaped are five times more likely to start smoking,’ said Cllr Madden.

‘We led the way in banning smoking in all public places back in 2004 and now Australia is leading the way by banning the sale of vapes to anyone under the age of 18.’

Cllr Madden also expressed concern about the rising popularity of single vapes, which in some instances are being discarded on roadsides across the county.

‘The increase in vaping when you go out is enormous and I noticed it myself lately when I was at a race meeting where I was constantly moving away from people who were vaping.’

He said he isn’t looking for an outright ban on vaping but would like to see it banned in general public places like bars, restaurants, matches, racing events and public transport.

‘If we don’t do something about it the numbers vaping will increase and we will have the same health problems down the line. I would also like to see a ban in place for single vapes, just like in Australia and we should do it sooner rather than later.’

County mayor Cllr Danny Collins, who is also a publican, said he sees the merit in the motion and admitted he was the first to lose his head when the smoking ban in the workplace was introduced in 2004, which affected his business a little bit.

‘Nearly 20 years down the road I can say it was a great initiative by Micheál Martin,’ said Cllr Collins.

Cllr Gillian Coughlan (FF) said that to think that young people are voluntarily taking these vapes into their lungs as well as nicotine is ‘worrying.’

‘Those of us who don’t want to inhale them should not be forced to inhale passive vape odours which I find reprehensible. 

‘We should be doing more and the plastic vapes are damaging our environment,’ said Cllr Coughlan.

Cllr John Paul O’Shea (FG) said he doesn’t think there is enough research out there about the harmful effects of vaping. ‘The amount of disposable vapes out there is huge and it has led to them being thrown at the side of the road and causing litter across the county,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Cllr Paul Murtagh (FG) said he has been talking to dentists recently who have noticed a lot of tissue damage in patients’ throats as well as mouths.

Councillors agreed to write to the Minister for Health on the urgent need to expand the ban on vapes, similar to the ban in place at present for cigarettes.