{"id":156940,"date":"2025-11-01T10:37:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T10:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/156940\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T10:37:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T10:37:13","slug":"tax-hike-that-will-more-than-double-price-of-vapes-will-hit-smokers-trying-to-quit-warns-gp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/156940\/","title":{"rendered":"Tax hike that will more than double price of vapes will hit smokers trying to quit, warns GP"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Department of Health-led move is aimed at stopping young people from using nicotine vapes \u2013 but vape-shop owner Eoin O\u2019Boyle says people will head to Northern Ireland to buy them much cheaper\n<\/p>\n

Dr McGovern, who is based in Dublin, said he was concerned at the knock-on impact of the move on smokers of traditional cigarettes, as the tax of 50c per millilitre is imposed on all e-liquids.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere should be no barriers put in the way of people who are trying to quit cigarettes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Vape refills used by adult former smokers will more than double in price, with a 10ml nicotine salt e-liquid rising from \u20ac5 to between \u20ac11 and \u20ac15 at a minimum, with costs, which must also include Vat, varying per retailer.<\/p>\n

Nicotine-free e-liquid will also be taxed and a 50ml product will rise in price from around \u20ac10-\u20ac15 to \u20ac35-\u20ac55, with a 100ml version costing up to \u20ac85 or more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have taken our eye off the ball when it comes to smoking cancer-causing cigarettes and we need to get rates down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The tax hike, promoted by the Department of Health, is mainly aimed at stopping young people using \u00adnicotine vapes.<\/p>\n

\"Almost<\/p>\n

Almost a third of Irish teenagers have vaped<\/p>\n

New tax to increase cost of vapes and refills by up to 100pc <\/p>\n

Dr McGovern said the most price-sensitive group were younger people but their preferred choice of disposable vapes will increase in cost the least, with a 2ml product up from around \u20ac8 to more than \u20ac9.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are always ways of protecting youth and the age restriction on anyone under 18 buying vapes needs to be properly enforced.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said nicotine was addictive but better-quality studies were needed to validate some of the claims around it.<\/p>\n

However, Chris Macey, of the Irish Heart Foundation, welcomed the tax, saying there has been an \u201cexplosion\u201d in vaping among young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cNicotine is one of the most addictive substances on the planet and research shows that increasing the price of either vapes or cigarettes is the biggest deterrent to young people starting to use them,\u201d he said. \u201cNearly a third of teenagers in Ireland have used vapes, with the most common age of initiation being 14-15 years of age.<\/p>\n

\"Almost<\/p>\n

Almost a third of Irish teenagers have vaped<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is hugely worrying given the evidence that vaping can affect brain development in young people, cause harm to the heart, blood vessels and lungs and is a gateway to smoking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIreland was one of the last countries in Europe to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to children. And more than half of our EU counterparts have already introduced a specific tax on vapes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vape shop owner Eoin O\u2019Boyle said the tax rise would fuel cross-border trade to Northern Ireland where vapes will be much cheaper as well as lead to more being sold on the black market, affecting legitimate retailers.<\/p>\n

A vape product which would cost around \u20ac12 here might be sold for \u20ac2 in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

\"Vapes<\/p>\n

Vapes would cost around \u20ac12 here. Photo: Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a business level it is horrendous but it is the people who have used vapes to give up smoking who make up most of my customers who will be affected,\u201d said Mr O\u2019Boyle who runs the OB Vape shop in Drogheda, Co Louth.<\/p>\n

\"Eoin<\/p>\n

Eoin O’Boyle owns OB Vape in Drogheda<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the core of my business. These are adults who want to quit.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said many shops had been buying extra supplies for months in anticipation of the tax and they would be able to hold off on passing on the price for a while \u2013 but they can expect big demand as customers try to also stockpile.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could have three or six months\u2019 worth of existing stock but I don\u2019t know how soon it will be sold,\u201d he said. \u201cI have long called for a proper licensing system to remove bad actors. I have never sold to a minor and the age ban must be properly enforced.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, how are inspectors going to ensure they go after outlets like the many phone shops or even barber shops where vapes are being sold to fully investigate if they are paying the tax.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am in favour of putting a heavy tax on disposable vapes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UK will introduce a vape tax next October that will narrow the price gap between the North and the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Government said it is planning additional measures to restrict flavours, ban disposable vapes, and limit promotion in shops.<\/p>\n

Responsible Vaping Ireland, representing more than 3,500 independent vape retailers, welcomed the tax as a \u201cpositive and necessary step that will help strengthen enforcement and ensure a level playing field for compliant, responsible retailers\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe this tax, if properly enforced, will make it harder for non-compliant sellers to operate and will ultimately support public health.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Department of Health-led move is aimed at stopping young people from using nicotine vapes \u2013 but vape-shop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,2271,18,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-156940","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-eilish-oregan","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115474009174641288","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}