Mr. Niall Cody:

This year, it could be 15% or 20%. The reality of the factory is that a significant proportion of those cigarettes were bound for the British market. They would not be all released in Ireland. The system would not be able to cope. The market is very interlinked. We are embedded in OLAF and international co-operation. In 2017, Poland seized 544 million cigarettes.

We seized 34 million. It has a population approximately ten times our own. In 2013, the UK had seizures of 378 million and we had seizures of 41 million. In another year the UK had seizures of 508 million and we had seizures of 53 million. I usually use the idea of dividing the number by ten. We are proportionate but the figures jump around. The level of tobacco tax we get is fairly static over the years, even allowing for the increase in excise duty. That is from a significant reduction in people smoking. Health motivation is an important aspect. The Deputy is practically correct on the 80% figure, as the illicit trade in tobacco is like smuggling tax. When somebody is buying 20 cigarettes, they are paying a lot of tax.