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The Minister for Health has announced his intention to ban cigarette vending machines.<\/p>\nThe Minister for Health has announced his intention to ban cigarette vending machines.<\/p>\n
Simon Harris has said he is in favor of the move due to children under 18 being able to buy cigarettes from vending machines easily, and the impact smoking is having on public health.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my intention to ban cigarettes vending machines and e-cigarettes to under 18s,\u201d Mr Harris said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s that controversial at all, tobacco kills you, it\u2019s really bad for you, it causes cancer, we have a policy called Tobacco Free Ireland, the leader of the opposition (Micheal Martin) did really good work when he was minister for health in that regard and I want to continue to build on that work as successive health ministers have.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked how he would tackle the tobacco lobbyists who are likely to have major objections to the move, Mr Harris said he was prepared and felt that public opinion would be on his side.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI\u2019ve shown an appetite to take on vested interests in the interest of public health, people told me I wouldn\u2019t pass the Public Health Alcohol Act, it may have taken 1,000 days but we did, so I\u2019m absolutely determined.<\/p>\n
\u201cTobacco is killing people, it is causing misery to many families saying goodbye to loved ones early, and it\u2019s also having a huge impact on our economy, so I don\u2019t think moves to make cigarettes less available and less visible are controversial so I would hope there is as big a lobby in favor of banning this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The announcement was made after a question about vaping following six vaping-related deaths in America, and what Mr Harris\u2019 department was doing in relation to the issue.<\/p>\n
HE said: \u201cI\u2019m extremely concerned about the number of children starting to vape and the disingenuous way companies target children, with the different colors, flavors and the like.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know vaping is dangerous and I intend to ban it for children under 18, and I\u2019ll be bringing legislation on that before cabinet in the next two or three weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also expect to bring in a ban of selling cigarettes in vending machines in that same piece of legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Harris was speaking in Rialto after he announced \u20ac20m in funding for 122 Slaintecare projects.<\/p>\n
Over 477 projects applied for the Integration Fund and 122 projects from across the country were successful, ranging from hospitals, community health organisations, voluntary organisations, universities and Primary Care Centers.<\/p>\n
The funding is part of the department\u2019s move to develop community-based approach to healthcare, part of the Slaintecare plan to overhaul the HSE.<\/p>\n
The goal, according to the Department of Health, is to shift the majority of care to the community, which they say would reducing waiting lists and improve experiences for patients and staff across the health and social care system in Ireland.<\/p>\n