Debate contribution: Tobacco and Vapes Bill: Legislative Consent Motion

Debate contribution by Mr Danny Donnelly on 10 February 2025.

MLA

Mr Danny Donnelly

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

10 February 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Tobacco and Vapes Bill: Legislative Consent Motion

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4790340

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I rise in favour of the LCM and would welcome Northern Ireland's inclusion in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. I thank the Minister for bringing the LCM to the Assembly. Like other Members, I know how hard it is to quit smoking. It is certainly very addictive. The main purpose of the Bill is to introduce a new offence to prohibit the selling of tobacco products, as well as herbal smoking products and cigarette papers, to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. Clause 68 would introduce the provision into Northern Ireland law. If passed, the Bill would lead to Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole becoming a world leader in tackling the dangers that are posed by smoking, and moving towards a smoke-free society. It should be said that the Bill will not ban smoking for anyone who can buy cigarettes today, but increasing the age of sale will protect future generations from the devastating impacts of smoking and tobacco and prevent the cycle of addiction that has damaged our society for too long. It is estimated that approximately 13% of Northern Ireland's population smoke. That is around 200,000 people. Every year, there are around 2,300 deaths from heart and circulatory diseases that are directly linked to smoking. Smoking is more prevalent in more deprived areas, where people are two to three times more likely to smoke than those in less deprived areas. That exacerbates the existing socio-economic divide in our society, which is already worse than in other parts of the UK as a consequence of our recent conflict. Smoking causes huge damage to our economy. It is estimated to cost the Northern Ireland economy £0·4 billion each year; specifically, £0·2 billion to the Department of Health. The massive strain on our health service is worsened by smoking, with around 18,000 annual hospital admissions in Northern Ireland being attributable to smoking. A generational smoking ban would greatly alleviate the social and economic damage that smoking causes regularly. We would see both the immediate and more long-term benefits through passing the draft legislation. We know from experience that the use of regulation against smoking works and that, in recent decades, the situation was much worse. Fifty years ago, 45% of the UK population smoked. The figure is now less than a third of that. One of the main reasons for that substantial decline is the use of regulation to remove smoking from places where people are vulnerable and to increase public awareness of the dangers of smoking. The Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 came into operation on 30 April 2007, nearly 20 years ago. It introduced measures to ban smoking in workplaces and enclosed public spaces. That has largely removed indoor smoking, which is particularly dangerous due to the risk of second-hand smoking. In 2021, second-hand smoke exposure was responsible for around 3,000 deaths in the UK. Without the 2006 Order and its equivalents in England, Scotland and Wales, that number would have been much higher. There have been attempts to reduce the number starting smoking at a young age. Two thirds of smokers start smoking regularly before the age of 18, and most of those people will continue to smoke for the rest of their lives. Until 31 August 2008, the minimum age to purchase and consume tobacco products was 16. That was changed by the Children and Young Persons (Sale of Tobacco etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008, which brought the minimum age up to 18. The Bill represents a more significant step towards preventing those who currently cannot buy tobacco products from ever buying them, thereby ending the early exposure to tobacco that has been so prevalent in our society for so long. The UK Government could have considered increasing the age of sale again — for example, to 21, as the Republic of Ireland has been considering, or higher, to 25 — but there is a risk that that would only raise the age at which people start smoking, as opposed to stopping people ever beginning smoking. It is also important that the Bill includes a wide range of tobacco products, all of which carry a risk to health and can cause cancer. We cannot achieve a truly smoke-free society unless all such products are included. That is especially relevant following a study by Cancer Research UK that revealed that there has been a significant rise in the number of people who use non-cigarette tobacco products in the last decade, particularly young people. The enforcement of the progressive smoking ban will be crucial. The Bill adopts what I believe to be a reasonable approach. The Bill criminalises not smoking but specifically the sale of tobacco to those born in or after 2009. It will also criminalise proxy purchasing, which is purchasing on behalf of someone below the legal age. Children and others covered by the Bill will not be punished; instead, enforcement officers will have the power to impose on-the-spot fines of £200 and to uphold the law and clamp down on underage sales. I am sure that other MLAs will be as aware as I am of young people, sometimes even in school uniforms, being sold cigarettes and vapes. I also want to discuss the new regulations that will be introduced by the Bill around vaping and e-cigarettes. Vapes are relatively new and their long-term impacts unclear, but they cannot be considered risk-free. The evidence that we have shows that vapes are less harmful than smoking and can be useful in helping people to quit smoking. They have become the most popular smoking cessation tool. That should be welcomed and encouraged for adults who are looking to quit smoking, but we must be clear that children should not be vaping and should not be able to buy vapes. That is why we welcome the provisions in clause 76 that will make it an offence to sell a vaping or nicotine product to a person under the age of 18. As previously mentioned, the flavours, names and branding of some of the products would suggest that they are being marketed directly at young people. The Bill introduces new enforcement powers for the Department of Health, and I would appreciate more detail from the Minister of Health on the steps that his Department will take to ensure that those provisions are fully implemented and enacted. We also need district councils to ensure that they carry out a programme of enforcement action in their areas if appropriate, as under clause 81. That is important in relation to vapes. Although we welcome adults using vapes as an alternative to smoking, there is a risk of the opposite occurring: young people trying vapes and then escalating to smoking. There is a growing body of evidence that that is the case. In conclusion, I welcome the LCM and particularly the urgency with which the new Labour Government have brought it to Parliament, along with the previous efforts of the former Conservative Government. It is welcome that there exists a broad, cross-party consensus on the issue in Westminster, with 415 MPs voting for the Bill at its Second Stage in November and only 47 against. I hope that we will see similar consensus in the Assembly. I thank the Department of Health officials who attended the Health Committee, particularly for their useful updates and for outlining the differences between the Labour Bill and the former Conservative one, as well as the Members of the Youth Assembly for their valuable engagement on the issue. I also thank the organisations that have been in touch about the Bill, particularly Asthma and Lung UK, the British Heart Foundation and the BMA, all of which provided useful briefing papers. I look forward to continued engagement with the Department and the UK Government on how Northern Ireland can become a world leader in tackling the huge damage caused by smoking. Our goal must be a smoke-free society, which is defined as less than 5% of our population smoking. The Bill is a key step towards getting there, and I encourage all Members to support it today.

1,352 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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