Galway City Council has indicated it has no power to place limits on the number of new vape shops being opened.
The matter was discussed by councillors once again at a meeting at City Hall last night.
It's a question commonly asked - why are there so many vape shops, and what is driving the demand?
After all, they sell the same thing readily available in any other convenience shop, filling station, or supermarket.
But that hasn't stopped a huge amount of them opening not just in the city, but in every town and village in the county.
At City Hall last night, management said there's nothing they can do once a vape shop is compliant with planning.
"A shop is a shop" is what was offered, though it was acknowledged that they would like to see that changed.
Councillor Mike Crowe took a different tack - asking if some of them could be looked at in terms of their intrusive signage.
"They're certainly illuminated" he said, referring to a recently opened vape shop in the city centre.
Someone coming up the road with a few pints in them, he said, would nearly think they're in Times Square in New York and not Galway City.
Management acknowledged that signage and enforcement is a different issue - and it's one they can look at.
