The President of the University of Limerick has called on the Government to ban vaping on all third-level campuses.
UL itself banned vaping and smoking in 2018, introducing a "smoke and vape free campus" policy.
However, the university's President Dr Des Fitzgerald - a former chief executive of the Ireland East Hospital Group - has claimed e-cigarettes pose an "urgent health risk" that demands State intervention.
Dr Fitzgerald argued: "We can see by the introduction of flavoured vaping products and other marketing initiatives that big business is now aggressively pushing this product to young people in particular and we should waste no time in mounting a robust challenge to these forces and that begins with a ban.
“The Minister for Education and Skills should immediately institute a ban on vaping and smoking in any institution which is in receipt of Exchequer funds.”
He added: "What I'm concerned about in particular... in the university we have a young population where the patterns of what they will do for the rest of their lives are being laid down.
"I don't want students coming into the institution who are not smoking or never [vaped]... and then leaving the university addicted to cigarettes and to vaping."
While there have been significant efforts in Ireland and internationally to block children's access to vaping products, opponents of e-cigarette bans suggest blanket restrictions also hurt adults trying to quit smoking traditional tobacco products.
New York and Michigan states in the US have recently banned flavoured e-cigarettes, with the Trump administration also proposing a widespread ban on the products.
Authorities in the US are currently investigating more than 500 cases - including seven deaths - of lung illnesses linked to e-cigarettes or vaping.
According to the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) most affected patients have reported using THC (a psychoactive component of the marijuana plant) products, while some have reported using only nicotine.
The CDC says they've yet to identify "any specific e-cigarette or vaping product (devices, liquids, refill pods, and/or cartridges) or substance" that is linked to all cases.
