Action urged on vape shops 'congregating' in towns across Cork and Kerry

Nothing to prevent this in the planning process, councillors tell regional health forum

Some 772 licences for selling vapes were granted in Cork and Kerry this year with none refused. Stock picture

Vape shops are “congregating” next to each other across Cork and Kerry, and there is nothing to prevent this in the planning process, a regional health forum has heard.

Councillors heard that one school in Cork is surrounded by 21 vape shops, while in Tralee four of the eight premises on one street corner are now occupied by vape retailers.

Forum chair Peter Horgan, a Labour Party councillor for Cork South Central, asked for information on HSE licences for standalone vape premises and sought that vape retailers have a specific section in development plans. 

Some 772 licences for selling vapes were granted in Cork and Kerry this year with none refused, he noted.

“In development plans you can’t have an off licence if it's within a certain distance of another,” Mr Horgan said.

There is a need to change development plans so that vape shops cannot simply cluster together but rather are set a certain distance from each other, he said.

Ann Bambury, a Social Democrats councillor for Bandon-Kinsale, said she had recently observed a vape shop in a prominent location between University College Cork and the Bon Secours hospital on College Road.

“We need something in our planning to restrict the proximity of Vape shops,” she said.

Sinn Féin councillor for Tralee Deirdre Ferris said the concentration of vape retailers in parts of the town was becoming a significant concern.

She said some stores were also selling sweets and toys.

A multi-agency approach involving both the HSE and local authority planners was needed, Ms Ferris said.

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The HSE had no statutory role in the content of local development plans, said a senior official with the HSE.

They said the HSE  does have a public health role and would be happy to liaise with local authorities on the matter.

A written reply by the HSE to Mr Horgan’s motion detailed how Section 11 of the Public Act 2023, which came into effect in February 2026, requires any person intending to sell tobacco products and/or nicotine inhaling products by retail to apply to the HSE for a licence.

This requirement applies to sales from physical premises and through websites or other online platforms. A separate licence is required for each premises or website from which these products are sold.

Nationwide, the HSE, through the National Environmental Health Service, granted 5,310 licences between February and October 20, 2026. Of these, 811 were for nicotine-inhaling products, 824 were for tobacco products, and 3,675 covered both tobacco products and nicotine-inhaling products.

The HSE said 772 licences for both tobacco and nicotine-inhaling products were granted in Cork and Kerry.

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