The sale of tobacco products and vaping devices through vending machines or any self-service outlets is now illegal across Ireland, effective from Monday, September 29th. This nationwide ban is a key provision of the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act 2023, designed to protect children from accessing harmful nicotine products.
Vending machines, commonly found in pubs, clubs, and other venues, have been identified as a potential source for underage individuals to acquire cigarettes and vapes. Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill emphasized the ban's importance, stating, "Sometimes children have been able to access these harmful products, this is unacceptable, and this ban will ensure that this can no longer happen." All tobacco and nicotine product sales must now occur at staffed retail points where age verification can be properly enforced.
Jennifer Murnane O'Connor, Minister of State for Public Health, added, "Protecting the health of our young people is at the heart of this legislation. We are cutting off an avenue of easy access that has been shown to contribute to early experimentation and long-term addiction." The HSE's National Environmental Health Service will conduct nationwide inspections to monitor compliance. This measure aligns Ireland with WHO guidelines and follows the lead of the UK, which introduced similar vending machine bans over a decade ago, as part of the government's goal to reduce smoking prevalence to under 5%.
