Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)
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That is outrageous and such fines certainly should be bigger for anyone caught selling cigarettes illegally.

I wish to ask Ms Drennan one question. She mentioned the question of people going on holidays and bringing back cigarettes but is it not the case that one can only bring back 200 cigarettes or one must pay the customs duty if one is caught at the airport? While I believe Ms Drennan stated that people bring back 1,000 cigarettes and sell them on or whatever, I do not believe this to be the case. Second, I seek the witnesses' comments regarding the figures from the United Kingdom. As they probably are aware, the level of cigarette smuggling there has fallen from 21% in 2001 to 9% in 2011. The joint committee got the figures showing that despite the price of the cigarettes having risen over that ten-year period, the rate of smuggling decreased. This runs somewhat contrary to the argument the witnesses have been making and I invite them to tease out this point. However, I understand the problems they are experiencing. The black market is absolutely illegal and wrong. It constitutes unfair competition to the retailers represented by the witnesses and something must be done in this regard.