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OVER 20% OF vape retailers inspected by the HSE last year were found to be selling non-compliant products.
Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act show that of the 249 inspections carried out in 2024, 55 retailers were selling vapes which breach strict EU regulations.
Compliance checks also uncovered a number of retailers flouting a ban on the sale of vapes to under-18s.
Of the 223 test purchases carried out at by the HSE’s National Environmental Health Service (NEHS) last year, 40 shops illegally sold vapes to a person underage.
The statistics were obtained by Responsible Vaping Ireland (RVI) which has now urged the HSE to scale up compliance checks on those selling vaping products.
“Very low numbers of test purchase checks of vaping products represents a missed opportunity to enforce the under-18 vape sales ban properly, and indicates little resourcing for enforcement of the law, despite concerns about underage use of vapes,” a spokesperson said.
Earlier this year, numerous compliance breaches by retailers were exposed as part of an undercover investigation by The Journal Investigates. Our team revealed how multiple outlets in Ireland’s capital were selling disposable vapes that failed to meet health and safety regulations.
Our investigative unit also revealed that over 64 tonnes of illegal vapes were seized and stopped from entering Ireland in the last two years.
Single-use vaping products purchased by our undercover team included those not authorised for sale on the Irish market, and expired devices.
Confirming the newly released inspection figures, a HSE spokesperson said the compliance checks are “elements of a wider proactive surveillance programme” which includes intelligence gathering, monitoring and enforcement.
“In 2023, the National Environmental Health Service successfully prosecuted 28 retailers for selling tobacco products to children,” a spokesperson said.
“Further prosecution cases under the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling) Act 2023 are now ongoing nationwide. These cases relate specifically to the sale of nicotine inhaling products by retailers to children in 2024.”
According to the new data, 24 out of 34 importers investigated last year were found to have non-compliant vape products.
In 2023, all 15 checks at importer level uncovered illegal products which were destined for the Irish market.
Of the six vape distributors investigated in 2024, the NEHS said one was found to be non-compliant.
There were zero checks at manufacturer level last year, which is a significant drop from 2022 when 16 investigations were carried out.
Of those, 15 manufacturers were found to have non-compliant vapes ready for sale in the Irish market.
RVI represents a number of players in the Irish vape industry, including retailers and manufacturers such as Vuse, owned by tobacco giant PJ Carroll.
The group has previously warned of Ireland’s black vape market, as well as the so-called “grey market”, where e-liquid products are brought across the border from Northern Ireland, bypassing HSE and EU requirements.
In a statement highlighting the latest compliance figures, RVI said the HSE National Service Plan for 2024 did not allocate extra resources for test purchase checks on vaping products. These are carried out to ensure that retail staff are not selling products to under-18s.
The number of test purchase checks carried out on tobacco products in 2023 was 393. That was before the ban on selling vapes to those underage.
However, the FOI figures show that a total of 389 test purchase tests were carried out last year – for all tobacco and vape products. Just 166 of these were tobacco inspections, almost a 60% drop.
“There is currently an unknown quantity of mobile phone accessory and laptop repair shops selling vaping products,” RVI said.
“There is no formal register of vape stores managed by the HSE, and there are concerns about some stores selling to underage and selling illegally imported product that has not been notified for sale.”
Under the European Tobacco Products Directive, vaping products must adhere to a set of regulations before being placed on sale in Ireland.
That includes clear health warnings on packaging in both Irish and English, and a limit on nicotine strength of no more than 20mg/ml.
In December 2023, the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act was introduced, banning the sale of vaping products to those under-18.
From next year, new licensing requirements will mean retailers wishing to sell vaping products must pay an annual fee of €800.
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Patricia Devlin is an investigative journalist with The Journal Investigates.
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