Any move by Ireland to ban disposable vapes won't work unless it's across the European Union.
Hale Vaping director Joe Dunne was speaking after a survey carried out by Ipsos found 64% of respondents support the banning of disposable e-cigarettes.
Some 28% of people opposed the measure, while 8% said they were unsure.
Just over 1,000 adults aged 15 and over took part in the Ipsos survey earlier this month.
Mr Dunne told The Pat Kenny Show a ban could force people to turn to the black market.
"Banning and prohibition doesn't work, matter what product or what industry it is" he said.
"We know that over the years; history has told us that.
"Unless there was a European ban, in the EU, for all disposables, the it would be a level playing field for everybody.
"If Ireland go ahead and ban disposables... there's going to be an influx of illegal, black market activity.
"We're going to be getting products into this country that no one will know what is in them.
"They're still going to get them, because people are selling illegal stuff at the moment.
"There's illegal stuff coming in from the UK and not regulated... being sold in tier 3 and 4 shops, corner shops and small shops down certain streets in Dublin".
A woman smokes a disposable vape. Picture by: Mikhail Reshetnikov / Alamy Stock PhotoMr Dunne said they fully support the law change to restrict sales to those under-18.
"We do not sell to under-18s, we have an age check system in our stores and we keep a log of everyone that is refused," he said.
"We supply a lot of the main key, big retailers who sell tobacco and alcohol, so they're well educated in the whole under-18 thing.
"The problem is when you go down to - maybe - phone shops or other shops that are selling these products... that's probably where the regulation, or a bit of self morale, sort of loses its way".
'Littered on the ground'
Irish Heart Foundation Advocacy Manager Mark Murphy said the amount of waste in disposable vape is huge.
"Each disposable vape has lithium [battery] in it - in the UK, 1.3 million disposable vapes are thrown away each week," he said.
"Across the year that's 10 tonnes of lithium, that's nearly 1,200 electric cars.
"At a time when we have an environmental crisis, and we're pushing the move to electric vehicles, the lithium is really crucial.
"If you walk down any high street you'll see them littered on the ground.
"They're disposed of incorrectly and even now clean up operations on beaches and in rivers are finding more single-use vapes.
"In Co Cork in the River Bride, where they had an afternoon clean up, they found 50 single-use vapes in just one afternoon".
'The horse has bolted'
Mr Murphy said the majority of vapes do contain nicotine.
"Nicotine has a huge impact on youth brain development, so there's a huge health concern there for kids as young as 15," he said.
"These vapes should be regulated as having 2% nicotine, or 20mg of nicotine per vape as regulated by the EU.
"Recently we found breaches - the HSE is investigating disposable vapes which are breaching the regulated nicotine amount".
Mr Murphy said Ireland has to do more, even with changes that will see vapes unable to be sold to under-18s.
"We are one of the last nations in the EU to do this," he said.
"We think there should be much more regulation - the horse has bolted when it comes to youth vaping, and now we're catching up," he added.
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