Official Report: Minutes of Evidence

The Chairperson (Mr Butler): I welcome Mr Karl Beattie, deputy director; Mr Tommy McNamara, the policy lead; and Mr Sean McVeigh, a policy official. I invite you to brief the Committee. Members have their papers.

Mr Karl Beattie (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs): Tommy and Sean are our subject experts. Tommy will make an opening statement, and then we will be happy to take questions.

Mr Tommy McNamara (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs): Good morning, Chair; good morning, all.

The Chairperson (Mr Butler): Good afternoon.

Mr McNamara: I am behind the times; sorry about that. I said "Good morning" because I thought that we were giving evidence in the morning.

Thank you for the opportunity to brief the Committee on the Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025. In November 2024, the Committee approved the Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024, which banned the sale and supply of single-use vapes in Northern Ireland from 1 June 2025. That aligned with legislation brought forward by the other UK Governments and ensured a UK-wide ban on the sale and supply of single-use vapes.

Three main policy objectives underpin the proposed statutory rule. It is, first, to strengthen the enforcement of the ban on the sale and supply of single-use vapes; secondly, to safeguard against illegal single-use vapes re-entering the marketplace; and, thirdly, to ensure that the ban on the sale and supply of single-use vapes can be enforced equitably in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, the primary legislation under which these regulations and the 2024 regulations are made does not provide power for enforcement officials to seize illegal vapes. The proposed amendments will provide for the Department to direct that illegal vapes are to be treated as waste and disposed of or otherwise treated as the Department considers necessary. That will ensure that illegal single-use vapes will be disposed of correctly and cannot re-enter the marketplace. The regulations will also make it an offence not to comply with the direction of the Department.

In addition, for the purposes of enforcing the ban, the term "body corporate" applies only to companies at present. It is proposed that the term be expanded to include both partnerships and unincorporated associations to ensure that enforcement is equitable throughout Northern Ireland. The inclusion of partnerships is particularly relevant, as there is a significant number of family-owned retail businesses in Northern Ireland. The proposed amendment will also ensure that enforcement provisions broadly align with similar provisions in force throughout the rest of the UK.

There is no statutory duty to consult on the regulations, but DAERA was required to publish the draft regulations in 'The Belfast Gazette' for a minimum period of two weeks. No responses were received following the publication of the draft regulations. The Committee may wish to note, however, that public responses from the previous consultation on addressing smoking and youth vaping were strongly in favour of a proposal to introduce a prohibition on the sale and supply of disposable vaping products.

DAERA officials continue to engage with council representatives on how the single-use vapes ban can be enforced effectively. Councils have expressed concerns about resource requirements. We have reached out to the Public Health Agency (PHA), which funds tobacco enforcement in councils, to discuss the possibility of using tobacco control officers for that purpose.

Executive approval to introduce this legislation to tackle the environmental impact of single-use vapes by means of a ban was secured on 3 April 2025, and we have laid the draft regulations before the Assembly today, in keeping with our commitments. Unfortunately, due to legal complexities, it was not possible for the statutory rule (SR) to align with the coming-into-force date of the ban on 1 June. However, the intention is for the regulations to come into force 21 days after being laid before the Assembly.

We are happy to take any questions that Committee members may have.

The Chairperson (Mr Butler): Thank you very much.

The legislation that we brought through took effect from, I think, 1 June of this year —

Mr McNamara: That is correct.

The Chairperson (Mr Butler): — so we have no measurable quantification yet of its effectiveness. However, the regulations seek to rubber-stamp and enforce a part that was missing from the legislation. Did such an additional piece have to be brought to the other devolved legislatures — Wales and Scotland — and Westminster? Was it missed in their primary legislation?

Mr McNamara: It was contained in their primary legislation. I think that the rationale for us not including it was that there was not a functioning Executive at the time when they started theirs, so we were behind schedule in getting our legislation progressed. This is an enforcement mechanism that has never been used in Northern Ireland. A decision was taken to make sure that the ban aligned on 1 June and that we would try to catch up later on.

The Chairperson (Mr Butler): OK. You stated clearly that the regulations will take effect 21 days after they are laid. They do not need further assent or to sit in a stovepipe.

Mr McNamara: No. They are subject to the negative resolution procedure.

The Chairperson (Mr Butler): OK.

Will you explain or define for us whether this will put an onus on councils to dispose of seized vapes? How will that be mechanised?

Mr McNamara: No, it will not. We are still engaging with councils. We are still liaising with the Departmental Solicitor's Office on the wording, but, with the direction that we hope to bring forward, we hope to put the onus on the holder of the single-use vapes to dispose of them. The direction will state that all vapes are to be deemed as waste and that the holder must dispose of them in accordance with best practice. That is through regulation 31 of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013 (WEEE). The onus to dispose and the cost incurred for disposal will be on the holder of the single-use vapes.

The Chairperson (Mr Butler): How do they dispose of them?

Mr McNamara: They have to take them to a licensed waste contractor. The direction will state that they will have to provide evidence of having done that to the Department, on request.

The Chairperson (Mr Butler): Do we have licensed waste contractors that are capable of and have the capacity to do that?

Mr McNamara: There are licensed waste contractors, yes. They will not be able to recycle them in Northern Ireland — I do not think that we have enough recycling facilities — but they will be able to dispose of them. Normally, they are taken to GB to be recycled.

The Chairperson (Mr Butler): I am just thinking of the logistics. It appears to me that single-use vapes will be particularly prevalent amongst young people. How do we inform and encourage and how do we enforce?

Mr McNamara: It is aimed primarily at retailers of single-use vapes and applies only to single-use vapes that are offered for sale or supply. It is not aimed at individuals. There is a different set of regulations for individuals: the waste electrical regulations. Retailers that sell any type of vape are already required under law to provide a receptacle for vapes for people to bring them back, and they are required to take those back. That is already in law and is operational. This direction is aimed only at the retailer, so "the holder" is those who hold vapes for sale or supply, not individuals.

The Chairperson (Mr Butler): Thank you so much. Do members have any questions?

Mr McAleer: I have a brief question. Under "Financial implications", I note that there will be:

Will those fall to councils? Have they been quantified in any way?

Mr McNamara: They have not been quantified. What, I think, we said is that there is the potential for additional costs. Those have not been quantified. We have engaged with councils. When they expressed concerns about resource requirements, we requested that they supply estimates — they will not have the details — of the costs. Once we get that information, we can look into the issue further.

Mr McAleer: Have you engaged with the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE), NILGA or any other umbrella organisation?

Mr McNamara: We have engaged with SOLACE. We requested a meeting a number of times. To date, our director has been able to obtain only one meeting with the chair of SOLACE. I know that he is pushing for another meeting in the not-too-distant future.

Mr McAleer: I note from the briefing paper that the South of Ireland is going in the same direction; it is just behind us. Will that undermine us, particularly if someone who lives in the border region is travelling North and South, where there are two different approaches?

Mr McNamara: There is always the potential for that. At an official level, we are in contact with our counterparts in the Republic of Ireland. The Minister has written to and asked for an update from Minister Carroll MacNeill, who has said that they are progressing it and pushing ahead with a ban. She reaffirmed to Minister Muir her commitment to progressing the ban on single-use vapes. We do not have a timeline as yet, because the drafting of the Bill is still with the Attorney General.

Mr McAleer: I want to go back to the councils for a second. At what point will you be able to bottom out, effectively, the potential cost to councils of implementing the legislation?

Mr McNamara: Unfortunately, we need councils to provide those figures. The one thing that we do not have is data on how much it will cost councils. We have asked them to provide an estimate of what, they think, the cost will be. Once they do that, we can progress it and discuss the issue further with them.

Mr Beattie: Ultimately, in the legislation, the enforcing authority is the Department, but the councils can be authorised to enforce it, and that is, essentially, what the legislation does. We see that there are certain synergies in the councils' carrying out the enforcement. There is a potential cost, but the cost is likely to be significantly higher if the Department carries out the enforcement. We need to, as you said, bottom out those figures and determine the way forward.

Mr McAleer: Thank you.

Mr McGlone: I have a brief question. The briefing document states:

In practice, what does that mean?

Mr McNamara: The reference to "robust" is about making sure that the single-use vapes that are detected and found cannot re-enter the marketplace. As the regulations stand, if someone is found to be selling single-use vapes, they can be prosecuted, but we cannot demand that they dispose of those single-use vapes. Effectively, we have no control over what happens to them. This will make it a lot more robust. The direction will demand that they get rid of them through a licensed waste contractor, so there is control there, and that is what makes them robust.

The equitable argument comes down to the fact that, if someone is selling single-use vapes in one of the big supermarket giants, not only can they be prosecuted but the supermarket giant can be prosecuted as, what is called, a body corporate. That does not apply, however, if a person who is in a family-owned retail store that is a partnership or works in a club sells them. Only the person who sells them can be prosecuted, not the person who holds the chairmanship of a club or is in a business partnership. That is the equitable part of it.

Mr McGlone: From what you have explained to me, there will be a whole lot of checking to be done.

Mr McNamara: It is not that there will be a whole lot of checking to be done; rather, extending it to partnerships and "unincorporated associations", which is the legal term, ensures that ultimate responsibility for the marketing of the vapes, and the person against whom prosecution can be taken, is the person who owns or is responsible for the vapes, not just the employee who actually sells them.

Mr McGlone: No, I get that, but somebody will have to check to make sure.

Mr McNamara: Somebody will have to check, yes.

Mr McGlone: That is where you will have to delegate authority, or whatever, to councils. That brings me back to Declan's point. It will then rest with councils and whatever additional resource, if any, they can provide to do that.

I would be interested to hear SOLACE's views on that and about whether there has been any communication or reaction to those proposals from SOLACE. It would be important to hear that, Chair. We can talk all day here about single-use vapes, but, if enforcement is impracticable —.

The Chairperson (Mr Butler): That is OK. If members are content, we will write to SOLACE and the Department on the back of that to get clarity.

Mr McGlone: Thank you.

The Chairperson (Mr Butler): Are there any other questions from members?

I have one. Can you give me some clarity on this? It is the first time that I have seen it. It says here under consultation that:

which is slightly different from most formal public indications. I had a quick look. It looks as though 'The Belfast Gazette' might not be a publicly accessible publication. Can you give me some detail? Is there nuance to that?

Mr McGlone: You are usually in that for a different reason.

Mr McNamara: It not nuance; it is required under the primary legislation, which is the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997. It is a legal requirement in the primary legislation that any draft regulations that are made under it have to be published in 'The Belfast Gazette'. However, there is no formal duty, obviously, under that primary legislation to do a formal consultation.

The Chairperson (Mr Butler): Every day is a school day. It is always good to learn and to stay humble, which I have to be, to be fair.

Thank you very much. We really appreciate your time today.