Vape shops in Louth have created a 'generation of young addicts' as Cllrs call for crackdown

Louth County Council have been told that vape shops have created an "entire generation of young addicts". 

Independent councillor Ciarán Fisher made the comments at the March meeting of Louth County Council in which two motions were put forward calling for the crackdown of vape shops across the county. 

Cathaoirleach of the Dundalk Municipal District, Cllr Robert Nash tabled a motion calling for the sale of vapes to fall closely in line with that of tobacco products. 

Cllr Nash called for the restriction of "bright neon signs" as well as "products aimed at children". 

He told the meeting that it's not just about dealing with shopfronts, but tackling the planning and development regulations. 

"Under the planning and development regulations, any corner shop overnight can swap from being a sweet shop to a vape shop," he said. 

The Fine Gael councillor said vape shops should have their own "distinct class" which would require a full planning application to be submitted for the change of use of retail premises.

"It’s important we deal with this issue head on and from as many angles as possible. We need to make the opening of these premises hard and make the sale of these products as hard as possible," he said. 

Cllr Nash added that the "oversaturation of these premises on our streets will not be tolerated." 

Cllr Fisher, who also put forward a similar motion said the "nationwide problem" has reached tipping point. 

He said vaping has become far more accessible than it once was. 

"An entire generation of young addicts that we’re raising. We’ve let the genie out of the bottle with regards to vaping and how we’ve allowed it to be advertised, we now have to circle back and try claw back some ground on it," he said. 

Independent councillor Maeve Yore called for Revenue to investigate vape shops and carry out audits.

"We have a problem with vape shops on our main streets in every town in Ireland. 

With the amount of footfall that’s in them, they’re not selling vapes. The Government should be proactive rather than reactive and get this issue sorted, and get Revenue to check what’s happening in these shops and carry out audits," she said.

Fine Gael councillor Dolores Minogue warned that "we don't even know how bad it is" and said "there's not enough data on it, there's nothing on it".

She called for vape shops to be "locked and put out of town". 

Green Party councillor Marianne Butler said the advertising and packaging of vapes "makes them interesting and attractive to children". 

Cllr Butler labelled it "disgusting" and said it is doing harm to people. 

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Thomas McEvoy, Director of Economic Delivery with Louth County Council acknowledged that there is "an increasing number of vape shops in town centres".

He added that "any lighting or illumination on signage should generally be discreet" although he said there are no restrictions on the colour or illumination for window displays.

Mr McEvoy confirmed that shopfront guidelines are currently under review, and said future updates to the guidelines could include "specific reference to signage for vape shops". 

He also said Louth County Council would support any amendments to the regulations that would "exclude vape shops from the definition of a shop" giving the local authority more control over where than can be located. 

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.