HSE grant 15 Cork licences a week to sell vaping and tobacco products

The HSE granted more than 15 licenses a week to sell vaping and tobacco products in Cork this year, new data has shown.

Section 11 of the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act 2023 requires any person intending to sell tobacco products and/or nicotine inhaling products by retail to apply to the HSE for a licence.

The HSE told councillors at a recent meeting of the Regional Health Forum that these licensing requirements were only in place from February of this year, so data sought from 2024 and 2025 was not available.

Between February 2 and October 20, the HSE’s National Environmental Health Service granted a total of 5,310 licences across Ireland.

In Co Cork alone, 573 licences were granted; 93 for nicotine inhaling products only, 88 for tobacco products only, and 392 licences covering both categories.

No licences were refused.

HSE SouthWest Forum chairman, Labour’s Peter Horgan, to whom the figures were provided, said they show the scale of the new licensing system and the significant number of retail outlets now authorised to sell vaping products and tobacco.

“However, while we now have figures telling us how many licences have been granted, we need to go a step further and establish precisely where these businesses are located,” he said.

“We have to do that to prevent the clustering that is happening. You wouldn’t see off-licences operate next to each other, the same should be so for vaping.”

He has called for the HSE to introduce a publicly accessible geo-mapping system showing every approved vape and tobacco retail licence, with the locations clearly identified.

“We need to understand the geographical distribution of these premises, there are concentrations of outlets in particular towns, villages or neighbourhoods, and how close they are to schools, youth facilities, and other sensitive community locations,” said Mr Horgan.