Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank both Deputies. I assure Deputy English that Revenue remains focused on enforcement activity. It has approximately 2,000 professionals working on enforcement all of the time.

On Deputy Doherty's question, it has to be acknowledged that the higher the price goes in the legitimate market, there is the potential that we will see an increasing proportion of overall purchasing coming from the illegal market or cigarettes will be brought in with no Irish duty paid following travel from abroad and so on. To give the Deputy some context, we have seen an increase in the percentage of the overall number of cigarettes which are illegal. In 2018, it was 13% and in 2022, it increased to 17%. We have seen an increase and we need to be conscious of the impact of future excise decisions. I will delve more deeply into that question, certainly in advance of the next budget and before considering any further changes.