Member's statement: Vaping: Young People
Member's statement by Ms Kate Nicholl on .
- MLA
- Ms Kate Nicholl
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 12 November 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Vaping: Young People
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4658215
Read the official Assembly record
Text
A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in my constituency office, and it was raining. It was just before recess, and a number of children came in to shelter from the rain. They must have been 13 or 14 years old, max. They spent about 20 minutes in my office, and then they left. There is a vape shop just around the corner. I noticed some of them going into it, so I went out and looked through the window and saw that those young people, who were 15 years old, maximum, buying vapes, which we know is illegal. I am genuinely very concerned that that is happening. An Audit Office report from earlier this year highlighted that 9% of local 11- to 16-year-olds are vaping, with 6% doing so regularly, and that that is a marked increase since 2019. Some 24% of year 12 children vape. Cathy Mason brought an important motion to the Assembly, which referred to the role of education and information on the subject. A report from Asthma + Lung UK referred to the marketing and promotion of vaping to young children, but we have not talked enough about regulation and enforcement.
The police were very helpful. I rang them after I had gone in to tell the shopkeeper exactly what I thought of his practice of selling those products to children. The Trading Standards Service should take a more active role in the issue. For the first time in Northern Ireland, in early November, Belfast City Council imposed a restricted sales order to prevent an individual from selling tobacco and nicotine-inhaling products following the sale of a nicotine-inhaling product to a child under 18. We need to see more of that and see councils and Trading Standards taking a more active role. After witnessing that happening right next to an MLA's office, I can only imagine how much it happens across Northern Ireland. This is something that I will pursue.
326 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.04 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.90).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.03 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.90 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.57 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.37 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.05 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:32 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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