Increasing the smoking age to 21 could actually make the habit 'fashionable again', a smokers' rights group has claimed.
The Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill, which has been introduced in the Dáil, which would raise the legal age limit for buying tobacco products from 18 to 21.
If passed the laws would come into place in February 2028 - with the delay meaning it will not impact people who are already over 18 but under 21-years-old.
Forest Director Simon Clark told The Pat Kenny Show the move doesn't take adulthood into account.
"I feel it is a bit of a political gimmick," he said.
"We're having the same issue in the UK where the government wants to go even further and introduce a generational ban: where you'd be raising the age of sale by one year every year.
"Some would say that raising it from 18 to 21 is a reasonable compromise.
"But I would still argue that when you are 18 you are legally an adult and you should be treated like one".
A woman lighting a cigarette in October 2017. Picture by: Geoff Smith / Alamy Stock PhotoMr Clark said curtailing certain freedoms for over-18s is the wrong approach.
"At 18 you can drive a car, you can join the Army, you can possess a credit card, you can purchase alcohol and of course you can vote," he said.
"If you can do all those things at the age of 18 we believe you should also be allowed to purcahse cigarettes and other tobacco products".
Mr Clark said the crackdown should be on sellers not the general public.
"An important issue here is that one of the reasons this is being introduced is because people are saying it's going to protect children," he said.
"It's going to have absolutely no impact on under-18s because there is already a law in place that bans the sale of tobacco to people under-18.
"So instead of targeting young adults - people who are aged 18, 19 and 20 - what the Government should be doing is cracking down on anyone who sells tobacco to people under-18.
"That's the way we protect children, not targeting young adults".
'Encouraging people to smoke'
Mr Clark said 18-year-olds "have to be allowed and encouraged to make decisions about their own lifestyles".
"If you're not careful you're actually going to make smoking tobacco fashionable again.
"You're going to actually encourage young people to smoke".
Mr Clark said people have the right to make the 'wrong choice'.
"In a free and liberal society there has to come a point where we allow people to make their own decisions," he said.
"The Government can't dictate how we live our lives to the Nth degree.
"In a free and generally liberal society we have to accept that some people have the right to make - what you might call - the wrong decisions.
"That's their choice and it must be respected," he added.
The new bill would also extend current penalties for anyone convicted of selling tobacco products to people under the age of 18 to cover convictions relating to sales to people under the age of 21 - including fines of up to €4,000 or six months’ imprisonment, or both.
