I thank the committee for inviting us to today's meeting. We will outline the enormous potential that vaping has in tobacco harm reduction and how it can help reach the goal of a tobacco-free Ireland by 2025.
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in Ireland, with almost 6,000 smokers dying each year from smoking-related diseases. There is never a situation where it is better to smoke than it is to vape. Cancer Research UK has stated that vaping is far less harmful than smoking. There are approximately 200,000 e-cigarette users in Ireland. Most of these vapers have given up smoking completely, and 38% of those who tried to quit smoking in Ireland in 2019 used e-cigarettes during the attempt. This should be encouraged.
The IVVA represents independent retailers of vaping products in Ireland. Members of the organisation are neither owned nor under the control of big tobacco. We advocate for evidence-based policy on reduced-risk vaping products. Our members are helping Irish smokers to become smoke-free daily at no cost to the State. According to statistics from Euromonitor in 2018, some €70 million was spent on e-cigarettes in Ireland. Approximately 50% of vaping sales are from independent vape shops, 30% are online and 20% are traditional retail, thus illustrating that it is the independent vaping businesses that dominate the market. Of vapers in Ireland, 99% are either smokers or ex-smokers. Those who can be classified as "never smokers” make up less than 1% of users.
On a personal note, I am 54 years old and I was a smoker for 27 years. I first came across e-cigarettes in 2011. It was back then that I was beginning to learn that smokers smoke for the nicotine but die from the tar. I purchased my first e-cigarette in October 2011 and have not smoked since. Within a couple of weeks of quitting, my smokers cough was gone and my clothes, house and car no longer stank of stale smoke. I also had more energy and more money in my pocket. I was so impressed with the initial benefits of vaping versus smoking that I set about starting my own vaping business. The business I run is primarily online. Since inception, we have helped more than 16,000 smokers in their efforts to transition from smoking to vaping. Not every customer has been successful, but most of our customers no longer smoke. Many continue to vape and many have quit both smoking and vaping. With the new-found energy I gained from quitting smoking in 2015, I decided to take up running to try to gain some fitness. My Couch-to-5K programme took me a full six months, but I have not looked back. I now run at least twice a week, and in the past five years have run eight marathons and numerous half-marathons. I have entered three marathons for 2022. This is not to boast, but none of what I have outlined would be possible if I was still smoking.
Turning to the general scheme of the Bill, the IVVA welcomes most aspects of it. Specifically, we welcome the proposed over-18s aspect of the legislation. We also welcome the proposed new licensing scheme for retailers of vaping products, assuming that this measure will be proportionate. We believe those selling vaping products have a level of responsibility and that a fair licensing scheme will help to monitor and protect vape-related sales.
Although not included in the general scheme, we are aware there are some calls for a ban on e-liquid flavours. We will outline why this would be detrimental to public health.
The IVVA calls for an addition to the proposed Bill whereby single-use disposable e-cigarettes should be prohibited from sale. There are a number of issues that arise from this latest development in the e-cigarette market, including the following. First, these devices are ready to go, compact and relatively inexpensive and there is real possibility that unscrupulous players will try and market or push these products at youth. Second, legal and illegal product is currently making its way into the country and is being sold in many premises which previously would never have sold e-cigarettes, including hardware shops, hairdressers and so on. Third, disposable e-cigarettes are extremely difficult to recycle and lead to a lot of batteries and plastic being thrown into general waste. We will be writing to Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications separately on this aspect.
We believe that the Government should engage more with the independent industry and consumers. Our industry has been accused of trying to hook a new generation on nicotine. This could not be further from the truth. We have no interests beyond helping adult Irish smokers quit smoking and the 200,000 Irish people who now vape rather than smoke must not be forgotten in any discussion.
The Government should also provide smokers with accurate information and promote vaping as a safer alternative to smoking. The UK is leading the way in promoting vaping as a safer alternative to smoking, or at least 95% safer. As a result, in 2018, the UK reported the second lowest rate of smoking in EU at 14.7%. Additionally, it should be communicated to the smoker wishing to quit that vaping combined with behavioural support is almost twice as effective as nicotine replacement therapy, NRT. The largest randomised control trial to date, details of which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February 2019, found that the one-year abstinence rate was 18% in the e-cigarette group as compared with 9.9% in the nicotine replacement group. Furthermore, another large study looking at the heart health of smokers who switch to vaping, commissioned by Cancer Research UK, found that long-term smokers who switched to vaping were halfway towards achieving the vascular health of a non-smoker within a month. Researchers from the University of Dundee said they discovered a clear early benefit in switching from smoking to vaping. Many other high-quality studies are available.
Adult choice of e-liquid flavours are important and must not be restricted. E-liquid flavours are of vital importance to vapers. The IVVA is deeply concerned by the negative effect a flavour ban could have on tobacco harm reduction and consumer choice. A survey carried out by the Independent European Vape Alliance, IEVA, in 2020 found that nearly 65% of vapers vaped fruit or sweet e-liquids on a daily basis. The main argument in favour of banning flavoured e-liquids is the potential risk of making vaping products more attractive to minors with child-friendly flavourings and packaging. The association between vaping flavours and subsequent smoking initiation is not substantiated by evidence. We believe in protecting youth and that the most effective way of preventing youth consumption is by enforcing legal age control and strict advertising rules. The IVVA respectfully calls on decision and policymakers to have a closer look at the potential consequences of such a ban.
With regard to tax and excise duty, all vaping products are subject to 23% VAT, which goes to the Exchequer. Vaping products should not be subject to an additional sin tax. Smokers who switch to vaping are, in fact, doing the most important thing they can do to improve their health by quitting smoking.
Vaping provides an opportunity. About €11.8 million was spent on smoking cessation in 2017 while it was estimated in the same year that costs related to the impact of smoking totalled €1.65 billion. NRT products have a recognised failure rate of around 90%. Vaping, by contrast, represents a user driven, public health boon. No taxpayers’ money has been spent yet smokers are quitting, switching and cutting down through the use of vape products. As vaping has increased in popularity, the smoking rate has continued to decline. The prevalence of smoking has dropped from 23% in 2015 to 17% in 2019 as the popularity of vaping has increased.
Vaping is the most popular tool used by smokers to help them quit. Despite this encouraging trend, there are still 700,000 smokers in Ireland. If the Government takes a proactive approach to encouraging smokers to switch to vaping, then not only would there be a much-needed saving on the health budget, there would also be far fewer smokers.
