Up to 200 jobs could be lost because of a ban on cigarette sales from vending machines, according to an industry group.

Health Minister Simon Harris hopes to bring draft legislation to Cabinet in the coming weeks, which would outlaw the sale of tobacco products from self-service vending machines.

The sale of e-cigarettes to people under the age of 18 is also to be banned under the proposed new law.

It will also introduce a licensing system for the sale of tobacco products and nicotine-inhaling products, such as e-cigarettes.

The Department of Health says the new system will better reflect "the serious nature of the product to be sold."

Under the current system, a retailer pays a one-off fee - equivalent to the cost of four to five packets of cigarettes - to sell the products.

The new law will see additional enforcement tools, including fixed penalty notices and the power to publish a list of non-compliant retailers.

The Irish Cigarette Machine Operators Association (ICMOA) currently has over 60 business members and employs around 160 people.

Cigarettes lie in a machine in a cigarette factory in Langenhagen, Germany | Image: Julian Stratenschulte/DPA/PA Images

The group says this is worth some €175m to the Irish economy, with over 6,000 outlets across Ireland serviced by ICMOA members.

These are mainly service bars, pubs and hotels.

John O'Brien, chairman of the ICMOA, told Lunchtime Live their machines should not fall under the legislation.

"We argue that our machines are not self-servicing... all our machines are token operated.

"If you go to a machine you will not be able to purchase a packet of cigarettes from the machine, you have to go to the bar staff to request a token.

"No different than you have to go to purchase a drink - and if the person isn't 18 years of age, they'll not receive a token."

"We don't promote tobacco, we don't smoke cigarettes - we offer a service to pubs and hotels and they welcome that service."

"The members that I represent are mainly family-run businesses, running their businesses many of them over 40 years".

"The point that I feel is being missed here is the minister is taking this in and I don't believe it's going to have any effect on the smoking rate or the public health.

"The system that's in at the moment: it's age-controlled, it's working extremely well and I don't see the benefit of it."