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HEALTH MINISTER SIMON Harris has rounded on politicians who have invited vaping company representatives into Leinster House.
Speaking at the Oireachtas Health Committee, the minister also hit out against “large to tobacco companies moving into this space”, calling it out as “unethical” and “despicable”.
“I think it is appalling the amount of members of the Oireachtas that are bringing around vaping companies in here and asking me to meet them,” he said, adding:
“I’ll never meet them, I’ll never meet them, so people can stop asking me to meet them.”
He accused large tobacco industry of targeting children with the sale of e-cigarettes.
The minister said they are “mooching” into this area, and it is very clear they are doing so because they understand “the war against tobacco” is underway, and they can see Ireland is heading towards a “tobacco-free” country.
He told the committee that he will bring legislation to Cabinet next month that will ban of e-cigarettes to people under the age of 18 and prohibit the sale of tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products by anyone under the age of 18.
The proposed new laws will also ban the sale of tobacco products from self-service vending machines and at locations intended for children and events organised for children.
Advertising
The minister said the government moved to limited the advertising of tobacco products, however, having recently been a petrol station, Harris said all that blocked off tobacco advertising has been replaced with adverts for vaping products.
“This is a new arm to the tobacco industry, it is a threat to our children’s health and we need to call it out,” he said.
Beyond protecting children, in terms of banning the sale of vaping products to those under 18, the minister said he has asked the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) to carry out a review of the health implications for vaping products and e-cigarettes.
The report is due back in March, with the minister stating he will take action based on its results. He said there might be evidence that for those that are already smoking regular cigarettes that it may help them.
However, Harris said is very different to these companies targeting teenagers aged 14, 15 and 16 with these “nice, colourful things” that have tempting flavours.
The minister said he is taking this issue “very, very seriously”.
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Backing politicians into a corner of having to tell the truth, you bet they were unhappy.
Actually this forced a hand, and it just might have been the wrong move.
Good for Germany, not so good for Ireland.
Compare Syrizas negotiation tactics with our reactionary panic at that time.
Forced whose hand?
Central banker refused to play politics, fair play.
The Central Bank had a press release issued before the bailout was agreed on !
it makes it look like they had Fianna fail politicians over a barrel – and the Annsbacher document sits on Richard Bruton’s desk !
Before it was signed you say? My god, why oh why would the CB do such a thing? If only there was an article outlining the president of that CB’s reasons for making the announcement early that we could reference for justification, it might have had something to do with trying to stop a run on the banks for all we know. Alas, we remain in the dark until such an article can be located.
The evidence was given by a Civil servant in the Inquiry yesterday Egg ..
a lot of smoke often leads to a lot of daggers !
@ Hermes:
The evidence (see link below) said that they DRAFTED a press release just before the bank guarantee was agreed in 2008.
There was no mention of a press release concerning the bailout, which happened two years later in 2010.
He’s actually playing politics now. Political rule #1 Cover your ass at the expense of others.
Something strikes me about Honohan, self preservation syndrome to the fore. hunts with the hounds, runs with the fox.
He is just another arrogant professor who thinks more of his fame and notoriety than having any real ability other than appearing in public with his lines prepared is the way I see him !
Honohan has been the first truly independent Central Bank Governor. His predecessors all came from the Department of Finance and so were never truly independent.
I hope his successor is just as independent and doesn’t come from the Civil Service.
@ Hermes: You never have a good word to say about anyone. Patrick Honohan has done the state some service, more than you have I’d hasten to add.
Brian lenihan was bluffing on behalf of the Irish tax payer by insisting we wouldn’t accept a bailout unless we got a good deal. But then been the banker that he is Honohan sold the country down the river by revealing on radio that we would be accepting a bailout. Patrick Honohan probably cost us a couple of billion in reality but the media think he’s a great lad cause he’s a “strait talker” don’t you know. Idiots
The bailout was already done.
Lenihan spent 18 months at the start of the crisis doing nothing but going out.
Cowen went in to a black place and hid there.
Lenihan went around telling the global media that Ireland could not have a bank run because we were an Island.
I don’t think the man was mentally up to the job or aware of the problems. He seemed to be very aware though when it came to creating legislation that allowed bankrupt developers clean out their bank accounts in Anglo, against the advice of his Dept.
He was very aware when he paid all junior bondholders and never informed the cabinet.
Maybe Lenihan was such a good bluffer that he convinced everyone who worked with him or dealt with Ireland when he was Finance Minister that he hadn’t a clue what he was doing.
Saw a real expert on the tv the other night talking about this. He said none of the politicians on the PAC are experts on economics, finance or banking. Therefore they’re not asking the right questions and not doing a good job of extraction valuable information from the guys they’re questioning. I know they’ll say they’re saving millions by not having a tribunal, but this is the other extreme, and if its not done properly, they’ll have just wasted, i dunno how many months sitting in that room asking tom, dick and harry pointless questions, when they could have been doing something more productive for the country. It’ll probably conclude just before the next election and it’ll be all FFs fault.
STFU with this bull , when is someone going to do jail time is all I want to know .
You should go to the Guards with your evidence of laws having been broken.
He might like to explain how there was a “Press release” from the Central Bank issued confirming the Bailout – before the bailout had been agreed by Our elected Government !
The Central bank is badly exposed in a criminal sense on this one !
Lenihan and the Govt. thought that if they kept the electorate in the dark that they could get away with anything.
I think it’s amazing that so many commentators on here know more that professors or others experts in their own fields.
I’d go so far as to say you don’t know enough to know that you know nothing.
Kevin Cardiff did very well out of it, he shafted a guy to get the job.
Honohan was only doing what HE was told. His role is subordinated the that of the chairman of the ECB so he was doing what was prudent in the circumstances of the time not to spook the poor citizens, play along knowing full well the bailout etc would all follow.
He like most was wondering were Cowan and Lenihan really across this?
Did they fully understand it all?
Why else was he up all night ruminating on what to announce to the nation if he didn’t feel the boys being paid to to the job were nit actually up for it ?
He may come out of it looking like a smug banker/professor type but that’s because he knew what was going down as did another Professor Morgan!
You had an army of enthusiastic amateurs lining up to gain say them but if course they were never truly impartial
Did Ahern not mention “suicide” at one stage and he was the guy at the top !
The whole thing is so tragic and would be laughable if not so serious but Honohan and his reputation will be secure unlike Cowen Lenihan et al
No doubt Mary o rourke will be on the airwaves tomorrow trying to protect Brian lenihans legacy
have your say