Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to highlight an issue that has been raised to me by small retailers, particularly small shop owners, garage owners and petrol station owners, to do with the sale of illegal cigarettes. More than one third of cigarettes that are sold here either have no duty paid on them or they are counterfeit. Those figures have been issued by the Revenue Commissioners in terms of cigarettes that have been confiscated over the past 12 months. I believe this is only the tip of the iceberg. The figure is very small. There are a great many illegal cigarettes coming into the country. They are being sold at a third of the price charged by legitimate shops. The real issue here is that there needs to be more scanning of parcels and cartons coming in through the ports and airports. There also needs to be a clampdown on duty-free goods coming in from other countries. It needs to be patrolled because it is not fair on the retailers who are losing out to the sale of these illegal cigarettes.

I also wish to agree with Senator Seery Kearney and call for a debate on apartments and defective blocks. Some of my constituents are certainly affected by this. They are living in Dublin and their apartments have been affected by this. I wish to support my colleague in regard to her call for a debate on this issue.