Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

People do not see it in terms of defrauding the State, in the context of lost revenue, or even of breaking the law. It is not looked at in that way. There is a job of work to be done if we want to recoup the €750 million that is lost annually through the black market trade but the only way we can do that is to ring-fence the proceeds from increases in excise duty on cigarettes to deal with the problem. Today's budget identifies €20 million for dealing with black market activity over a wide range of areas, including diesel laundering and cigarette smuggling, which is to be welcomed.

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