LEGISLATION FOR NICOTINE pouches will “absolutely” be introduced, Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said, as the Irish Cancer Society criticised the government for being slow to regulate new nicotine products.

Nicotine pouches are small rectangles containing nicotine, flavorings and other ingredients which users put between their lip and gum. They are not currently covered by legislation on tobacco or vapes.

Speaking on Morning Ireland today, Averil Power, CEO of the Irish Cancer Society, warned that the product is becoming increasingly popular with young people as they are marketed to “look like sweets”.

MacNeill said she “absolutely” plans on introducing legislation for nicotine pouches under other nicotine legislation, which she previously described as “particularly invidious”.

“I described those nicotine pouches back in July as particularly invidious because they represent that sort of sweet-type appearance, they can be hidden from parents,” she added.

She said there is a “challenge” between legislation introduced by the government on nicotine products keeping up with new nicotine products developed by companies. 

She said she plans to look into ways of “future proofing” legislation to prevent these loopholes.

“I don’t like that situation of there being a catch up between the state and the products that we’re trying to regulate,” she added.

‘Epidemic’

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Speaking on Morning Ireland today, Averil Power, called on the government for greater regulation of nicotine pouches, which she said will become the new “vaping epidemic”.

She said packaging and flavouring of nicotine pouches are “deliberately designed to look like sweets” to make them more attractive to young people and teenagers.

She said some pouches contain much higher doses of nicotine than would be contained in a cigarette, despite costing only €5-€7 per can.

Power also highlighted the discrete nature of the product as it doesn’t produce any smoke or vapour and can be used in secret around parents and teachers.

She criticised the delay in legislation for vaping in Ireland, highlighting that “a third of teenagers are now vaping”.

“The World Health Organisation called for restrictions on e-cigarettes in 2014, the first legislation brought in here in Ireland wasn’t until late 2023,” she said.

She added that legislation on vaping has not yet covered e-cigarette flavours and marketing.

Power said any future legislation must include “pouches and any other products that come down the line”.

She said these new products are a way for “big tobacco” to gain a new market and avoid restrictions placed on them through legislation for other nicotine products.

Electric Picnic

Velo, a brand that sells nicotine pouches, is sponsoring Electric Picnic – something which Power said is “crazy”.

“We feel that it’s outrageous, frankly, that an event that so many young people will be attending, like Electric Picnic, is sponsored by a nicotine company that we banned,” said Power.

“Ireland banned sponsorship by tobacco companies 25 years ago, and it’s crazy that in 2025 that you have music events … with over half a million people attending them that have been sponsored by nicotine pouch companies.”

“We feel that it’s wrong ethically. We would ask organisers to look at that themselves, but absolutely, government should change it now and make sure that it’s not possible,” she added.

Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said: “It is incredibly disappointing to see festivals, attended by hundreds and thousands of people, used as vehicles to market nicotine products.

She said the pouches are a “gateway to lifelong nicotine dependency”.

“The government’s failure to regulate the sale of nicotine pouches poses an ongoing threat to children’s health and wellbeing,” she added.

Electric Picnic has been contacted for comment.