You couldn’t have blamed Michéal Martin, way back in 2004, for giving himself a nice pat on the back after introducing the smoking ban and saying to himself ‘great, that’s one problem sorted’.

Our small country led the way in banning smoking indoors and choosing to improve public health.

The percentage of people smoking dropped from 27% at the start of the ban to 18% in 2023, according to the HSE.

That might not seem like a giant leap, but in 2004 the smoking rate among children was 19% – dropping all the way to 5% in 2023.

However, nicotine always finds a way and, as we all know at this stage, vaping is just the latest vessel for this addictive substance.

The rise in this particular form of nicotine addiction has been well documented, and while there are genuine benefits to vaping for adults trying to quit the ‘real stuff’, the dangers for young people in particular are a concern.

Last week, the HSE announced that it will be working with content creators to educate young people as part of a new youth vaping and nicotine prevention campaign.

It’s an interesting idea, based on the premise that if young people look up to these social media influencers, they might just listen to them too.

Whether it will have a material effect is hard to predict, but something is certainly better than nothing.

The government has made it clear it wants to tackle the rise of vaping and the health problems that come with it.

It has already banned the sale of vapes to under 18s and is working on legislation to bring the colourful branding and names under the same umbrella as the now greyed-out tobacco and cigarette packets, alongside on-going plans to completely ban the retail sale of disposable vapes.

Another area of concern is what happens once a vape is thrown away.

The Irish Waste Management Association has called for a deposit return scheme to be introduced to encourage recycling after fires caused by batteries in bin lorries and at recycling centres cost their members £50m last year.

As we’ve seen with the scheme introduced for plastic bottles and the like, a financial incentive does help grease those particular environmental wheels.

But the root cause of all these issues comes back to how easy and socially acceptable it is to vape wherever and whenever you want.

Cinemas, shops and offices across the country have become plagued by clouds of Strawberry Ice and Blue Razz Lemonade.

So if the Taoiseach wants his health legacy to remain intact, a blanket ban on indoor vaping might be the best way to ensure it does.

Stop the clocks

THE European Parliament voted in 2019 to end seasonal time changes, yet here we are preparing for the clocks to go forward one hour at 1am on Sunday.

The biannual change marks the start of brighter evenings, but there are many arguments against it.

Critics claim it disrupts sleep patterns thereby causing a surge in cardiac arrests.

The loss of just one hour of sleep can cause fatigue so this interference with circadian rhythms is also linked to loss of productivity.

MEP Sean Kelly has argued that this weekend’s switch to summertime should be the last time we ever have to do it.

He advocates against reversing it in October, claiming the case for reform of this outdated practice is overwhelming.

Putting the clock forward always reminds me of my late mother.

‘Spring forward, fall back’ was her mantra in reminding us which was which.

Nostalgia aside though, perhaps the hour change has had its day?