FIANNA FÁIL TD Malcolm Byrne will today table a bill that would ban the sale of tobacco or nicotine products to anyone born on or after 2009, thereby creating a “smokefree generation”.

Byrne will this afternoon introduce a Private Member’s Bill in the Dáil which would ban the sale and supply of tobacco products, nicotine products and nicotine inhalation products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.

In 2025, the Maldives became the first, and so far only, country to enact a permanent generational ban, while in April, the UK Parliament approved legislation for similar measures.

Byrne said his bill establishes a rolling age restriction, ensuring that the specified cohort will never be legally permitted to purchase such products, including vapes and nicotine pouches, over their lifetime.

He noted that around 100 people die every week in Ireland due to smoking related illness, and a further 1,000 are hospitalised each week.

He added that “smoking costs the State in excess of €10 billion each year in healthcare and welfare costs”.

Byrne added that “big tobacco companies are now targeting young people with vapes and seeking to build a new generation of addicts” and that “Ireland should continue to be to the fore in addressing this problem”.

Speaking to The Journal, Byrne said this is something the government had been “looking at” before the UK government passed similar legislation in April.

He added that there is a lot of support for the measure from the likes of the Irish Heart Foundation, the Irish Cancer Society and others working in this area.

He added that there is “a lot of support” for the bill within Fianna Fáil.

Byrne also said that party leader and Taoiseach Micheál Martin has been “speaking quite strongly about the need to deal with the surge in nicotine inhaling devices or vapes, particularly among young people”.

“If we can move on measures like this to prevent young people from starting, it would be positive,” said Byrne.

“The ideal is, like with any private member’s bill, that the government would adopt this.

“I would certainly hope that the government would progress this legislation.”

Speaking further on the bill, Byrne noted that “for older persons using cigarettes or vapes, they would be able to continue to do that”.

“But this will just mean that anyone born in 2009 onwards won’t be able to,” he added.

“It will ultimately mean you will have a generation where they won’t be able to purchase such products.”

 Meanwhile, Byrne acknowledged that “no single measure is going to be the ideal solution”.

“There’s always going to be the danger of a black market and so on,” said Byrne.

“But certainly, I think that to move toward a smoke-free generation would be something very positive.

“If we can discourage young people from ever taking up the habit of smoking or inhaling nicotine, it will be an incredibly positive health measure.”