The Taoiseach has raised the prospect of a ban on vapes citing health risks, especially to young people.
Micheál Martin was speaking on Tuesday in Tullamore, Co Offaly, at the conclusion of the Fianna Fáil think-in.
Party TDs had earlier suggested planning restrictions on the number of vape shops that could open in any particular area.
Speaking about the dangers of vapes, Martin said: “To me, it’s almost been the revenge of big tobacco. It has all the same hallmarks as big tobacco – go after the young, get the young addicted.
“Vapes are nearly worse than cigarettes. We don’t know what’s in them; they’re damaging to the lungs,” he told reporters.
Martin said he would have a similar view of nicotine pouches.
Asked if he would favour an outright ban on vapes, the Taoiseach said: “Well, I’m not the Minister [for Health] but … yeah, in my view products like that that are damaging to health, we should deal with in as strong a manner as possible.”
Earlier, Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary warned that the increase in his budget allocation this year would be smaller than last year. He suggested he would seek to make “targeted interventions” rather than across-the-board increases.
He declined to say if pensioners and other welfare recipients could expect a repeat of the significant increases in payments they have seen in recent years.
“We have to make tough calls,” he said.
Echoing comments made by the Taoiseach earlier Tuesday morning, he said changes made in the budget last year, including a €300 million package to target child poverty, were not accounted for in figures on child poverty published on Tuesday by the Economic and Social Research Institute.
It found that the number of children in households below the poverty line grew by almost a fifth in 2024. Being below the poverty line is defined as having less than 60 per cent of the median household income.