The Health Service Executive is to ban the use of electronic cigarettes in all health service facilities from the beginning of next month.
The move follows a review of their safety and the impact of e-cigarettes on its smoke-free campus policy.
Electronic cigarettes are battery-powered devices which resemble ordinary cigarettes and deliver nicotine through inhaled vapour.
They are currently unregulated in Ireland and their use is not covered by the workplace ban on smoking.
The HSE said the sale and use of e-cigarette at its facilities, including hospitals, will be banned from 1 May.
It said that as the organisation responsible for health promotion and improvement, it can only recommend "safe and effective products" and strategies for quitting smoking.
It said that there is no conclusive evidence that e-cigarettes are safe for long-term use, or are effective as a smoking cessation aid.
The HSE is also concerned that because the devices resemble ordinary cigarettes, their use may promote or re-normalise smoking, disrupt the environment for non-smokers and make it harder for smokers to quit.
The HSE's National Director for Health and Wellbeing said the executive cannot endorse a product that has not been scientifically proven to help people give up smoking.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Dr Stephanie O’Keeffe said the executive can only recommend "safe and effective products" for quitting smoking and it has not yet been proven whether e-cigarettes are an effective aid.
She said a lack of regulation means the HSE cannot determine whether are not they are safe to use and that the number of different products on the market and the substances contained in them varies significantly.
She added that people who use nicotine replacement therapies that have undergone clinical trials will double their chances of being successful at giving up smoking.
Source: rte.ie, 24/04/14
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