Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has confirmed that the Government will look into banning vapes in schools as the country prepares to crack down on the sale of e-cigaretes to minors, reports the Irish Mirror.

Fine Gael TD Alan Dillion told the Taoiseach of his “deep concern” about the amount of children using vapes and said he had received a number of calls from “concerned teachers and parents” regarding the escalating prevalence of vaping among students in primary and secondary schools, reports the Irish Mirror whose own investigation recently exposed how easy it was for a 14-year-old to buy vapes.
Mr Dillon is in favour of banning vaping on school premises and introducing educational programmes to warn children about the dangers of e-cigarettes.
According to the Irish Mirror, the Taoiseach confirmed that the Government would examine banning the devices in schools.
“It is both a health issue and an environmental issue,” Mr Varadkar said. “It is a health issue because it is addictive, and an environmental issue because of the waste caused by the discarding of disposable vapes. Legislation is coming through that will ban the sale of vapes to minors and it will bring in a licensing system so that only recognised stores are able to sell vapes. We will take a look at a ban in schools. There is some merit in that idea,” he said.
The Taoiseach also said that he would speak to Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton about the prospect of introducing an education programme in schools.