Cork councillor seeks planning limits on vape shops near schools

Cork City councillors will try to put vape shop restrictions into the city’s next development plan, after a Labour councillor said national planning law gives them no tool to stop clustering near schools.

Peter Horgan says 77% of schools had a nicotine retailer next to them

The Cork City councillor told Newstalk’s Claire Byrne Show that a 2024 report he received found the share. He chairs the Regional Health Forum for South West, which he said has examined vape and nicotine retail across Cork and Kerry with public health professionals for two years.

He said one Co Cork school is surrounded by 21 vape shops. His figure covers nicotine inhaling products in general, including convenience retailers and nicotine gum, not only dedicated vape shops.

Licensing under the Nicotine Inhaling Products Act 2023 has no location test

The HSE approves the licences retailers need to sell nicotine inhaling products, Horgan said. He told the programme that nothing in the process weighs where an applicant sits relative to schools or other licence holders.

“There’s no geomapping of these licences being considered at all,” he said, describing a case where two adjacent shops could both be licensed.

The source did not explain the difference.

Cork’s development plan is the route he wants to use

Horgan said Cork’s development plan already restricts a new off-licence where one is already established, and he wants similar wording for nicotine retail when plans are redrawn from next year.

He said Cork City Hall planning experts tell him the council is constrained by national legislation, so the change would have to come through the plan rather than the licence. Motions he brought to the city council and the HSE have not produced that restriction so far, he said.

Retailers and distributors face location risk in the next plan cycle

If Cork writes proximity or clustering rules into its plan, new store applications in the city would face a test that the HSE licence does not apply. Analysis: chains and distributors planning Cork openings should treat the plan redraw as the date their site choices start to carry local risk, while existing licensed stores would face the question of how any new wording treats them.

The licence counts also matter for suppliers. Nearly half of the 2025 national approvals cover tobacco and nicotine together, which means much of the nicotine retail base sits inside general convenience retail rather than specialist vape shops.

What happens next

The development plan process begins next year, when Cork councillors will decide whether to table specific wording and whether the planning executive accepts it.

Questions readers ask

Do vape shops in Ireland need a licence?

Yes. Horgan said the HSE approves licences for shops selling nicotine inhaling products under the Nicotine Inhaling Products Act 2023. He said the process does not consider how close a shop is to schools or other licensed outlets.

When could Cork planning rules on vape shops change?

Horgan said Cork's development plan is due to be redrawn from next year, and he wants specific wording on nicotine retail included then.