New law comes into effect in September 2025 The sale of tobacco and e-cigarettes through vending machines will be banned from September 2025, the Minister for Health has announced. Stephen Donnelly yesterday commenced sections of the Public Health Act which introduce a ban on the sale by self-service of tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products such as vapes. The prohibition will come into effective next year to allow affected businesses to make arrangements.
It is the latest in a series of measures designed to protect the population from the health harms associated with tobacco and nicotine inhaling products. “On World No Tobacco Day, I am bringing into operation further elements of our overall tobacco control strategy,” the Minister said. “We are continuing to denormalise the sale of tobacco products to make it clear that a product that kills one out of every two of its users is not like other consumer products.
We are also banning the sale of nicotine inhaling products by self-service to further tighten the availability and the advertising of these products.” Current law on the sale of tobacco products through vending machines requires the use of discs or cards obtained from staff and also requires oversight by staff. However, evidence from the National Environmental Health Service, the enforcement authority for the tobacco control law, shows that self-service vending machines are consistently more accessible to minors than over the counter sales.
Prohibiting.
