According to news website NewsTalk, Ireland’s Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has submitted legislation to Parliament to ban teenagers under the age of 18 from purchasing e-cigarettes.
Minister of State Hildeguarde Naughton said: "I have committed to further legislation in this area."
Norton went on to say that the government has launched a consultation, which will run until January 5 next year, to seek people's views on what measures need to be taken in Ireland to make nicotine products less attractive.
Over the next four weeks, the government will seek public comment on a number of areas, including:
· Display of nicotine inhalation products in stores
·Nicotine inhalation product flavors
·The emergence of nicotine inhalation products
·Agent for sales of tobacco and nicotine inhalation products
·Smoking in outdoor dining areas
·Expand smoke-free restrictions to e-cigarettes
·Raise the selling age of tobacco products
·Increase the price of e-cigarettes
Smokers' rights group Forest has criticized proposals to further regulate the industry, saying there is a risk of "rushed" policy.
Forest spokesman John Mallon said: “We urge the government not to give in to the moral panic over e-cigarettes and regulate low-risk products in a lax way that undermines their effectiveness as a safer alternative to cigarettes. .”
