‘Punishing adults quitting smoking’ - Louth-based vape shop owner heavily critical of Budget 2027

Louth-based vape shop owner Eoin O’Boyle has criticised the government’s decision on an increase in tax on vapes.

O’Boyle owns OB Vape in Drogheda and has run his family business there for 8 years.

“The 20 cent is only the increase. It goes on top of the 50 cent that came in last November, so from January the tax is 70 cent a mil.”

O’Boyle provided a list of taxes on the products people actually buy:

10ml bottle of e-liquid: €8.61 in tax (€7 duty plus VAT on the duty)

50ml bottle: €43.05 in tax

2ml disposable: €1.72 in tax, not 40 cent

He said: “That's before anyone pays for the product itself. The bulk of what I sell is e-liquid in 10ml bottles, so these are the numbers my customers will see.

“Most of my customers are local people, ex-smokers in their 40s, 50s and 60s who smoked for decades before vaping finally got them off cigarettes.

“With a box of cigarettes at €20, the price difference is a big part of what keeps them off them.

“When the first tax came in last November, I had customers in the shop telling me that if it kept going up they'd go back to smoking or buy from the black market, where nobody checks ID and nobody pays tax.

“For a small family business like ours, it means collecting more and more tax off our own customers, while the people selling illegally online and on social media undercut us and don't ID anyone.”

O’Boyle believes tougher rules should be implemented instead.

He said: “If the Government is serious about protecting young people, this is where the effort should go:

“Real enforcement of retail licensing. Inspections that actually happen, and a shop caught selling to an under 18 should lose its licence, not get a warning.

“Test purchasing. Send under-age test buyers into shops and order online, the same way they do with alcohol. Honest shops have nothing to fear from it.

“Proper age checks online and on delivery. Real age verification on every online sale, and ID checked at the door, not a tick box.

“Go after the social media sellers. A lot of what reaches teenagers is sold through Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. No shop, no licence, no ID checks. The platforms need to be made to shut them down.

“Seize the illegal stock. Oversized, non-compliant disposables that were never notified to the HSE and never had tax paid on them should be seized, with real penalties for whoever is selling them.

“Put the tax money into enforcement. The vape tax raised over €22 million in its first nine months. Ring-fence part of that for inspections, test purchasing and seizures.

“Raise the tax on its own and you punish the adults who quit smoking, while the people selling to kids carry on as before.”