Ireland: Health Minister seeks to reduce number of tobacco and e-cigarette shops

In Ireland, tobacconists and vaping product retailers will have to obtain a licence and pay an annual fee to operate. The measure, announced by the Minister of Health, will come into force from February 2026, and is part of an objective to reduce the consumption of tobacco and nicotine products.

Currently, traders wishing to sell tobacco products simply need to register with the government and pay a one-off fee of fifty euros. For sellers of other non-medical nicotine products, no such requirements are imposed.[1].

From 3 February 2026, these businesses, in order to sell tobacco and nicotine products, will have to obtain a licence from the Irish public health system (Health Service Executive, HSE). This licence, valid for one year, will represent a cost for these traders, since they will have to pay 1,000 euros to sell tobacco products, and 800 euros for vaping products. The objective of the Minister of Health is to reduce the number of points of sale, the accessibility of tobacco and nicotine products, and, consequently, to reduce the prevalence of smoking and nicotine. Furthermore, these licences cannot be issued for temporary or nomadic businesses, in particular avoiding the sale of these products at events such as festivals, which are very popular with the younger generations.

Reducing the number of points of sale, an effective measure

The Minister for Health is including this measure in the Government’s Tobacco Free Ireland target, launched in 2016, to reduce smoking prevalence to below 5% by 2025. Current levels of consumption are well above the programme’s projections, with smoking prevalence in Ireland at 18%. However, Irish public health policies are achieving very good results with the younger generation, who now number only 4% smokers. The scientific literature has demonstrated for several years that the density of retail tobacco outlets is consistently associated with poor smoking outcomes.[2]. More specifically, the density level of tobacco shops is positively correlated with tobacco consumption by adolescents, whether it is initiation, daily or occasional consumption. Furthermore, the tighter the network of tobacco shops, the higher the risk of relapse among people who have started to quit smoking. Above all, various studies highlight the impact of reducing the number of retailers on consumption and, more broadly, on the denormalization of smoking.

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[1] Irish Times, Retailers selling tobacco and vaping products will have to apply and pay for a license from next year, 20/01/2025, (accessed 21/05/2025)

[2] Glasser AM, Roberts ME. Retailer density reduction approaches to tobacco control: A review. Health Place. 2021 Jan;67:102342. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2020.102342. Epub 2020 Apr 27. PMID: 33526207; PMCID: PMC7856310.