Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for being in the Chamber to respond to this Topical Issue matter. I wish we did not have to discuss tobacco at all because it is a killer which does not have any beneficial effects for anybody, but it will come as no surprise to the Minister that there is a significant level of illegal tobacco sales in Ireland. The estimates fluctuate from 30% down to 15%, with the truth being somewhere in between. I understand the Revenue Commissioners estimate that in 2011, some €707 million worth of illegal cigarettes were sold, which led to a loss of €258 million in excise duty and VAT to the State. That is particularly appalling given that so much of the work of hospitals and our health service is to do with tackling the ill-effects of tobacco. If ever there was a product that deserved to be taxed because of the cost to the State, tobacco is it.

One of my concerns is that in parts of my constituency there is a strong sense that approximately 30% of the sales are illegal, and that figure is growing. That appears to be the case in other parts of Dublin and in cities such as Waterford, according to anecdotal evidence.

I will give the Minister a couple of examples. A small shopkeeper to whom I spoke in north Clondalkin told me he let two staff go recently because of a decline in the legal sales of tobacco. The reason is not that people have suddenly stopped smoking, although I wish it was, but the growth in the illegal tobacco business. A neighbouring shopkeeper told me approximately 30% of discarded tobacco packaging outside his shop is from illegal tobacco products. While it would be preferable if people gave up smoking all together, it is galling that businesses which pay their commercial rates and keep people in work are being undermined because of illegal tobacco.

The other side of this issue is that the illegal tobacco trade benefits the criminal fraternity. Retail Ireland believes criminals in Ireland make in the region of €3 million per week from illegal tobacco sales. The most insidious aspect of that is it sucks young people into crime and inevitably some of them go on to get involved in even worse things, such as heroin and cocaine.

There are several questions about this issue to which I require answers. What is being done by the Revenue Commissioners and customs officials to stop illegal trafficking of tobacco products? What is being done to stop illegal sales of tobacco on the street? What is being done to get at the crime lords behind the street sellers who are making big profits from these illegal sales? Are the criminal sanctions adequate? Is there evidence that legally produced tobacco products are making their way into Ireland as illegal products from another country, as has been alleged to me? Has the State investigated this?

Tourists can legally bring in 800 cigarettes per person into this country and retailers reckon it accounts for 7% of tobacco consumed in Ireland. By contrast, Finland allows only 200 per tourist. Is there any way we can take a leaf out of the Finnish book to discourage people from smoking?

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