Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

Retailers are the lifeblood of all our communities, sponsoring virtually everything and creating local jobs, particularly for students during the summer holidays, etc. We should support our small retailers in every way possible. One of the biggest threats to them is smuggling of illicit goods and selling them outside the normal retail chain. The biggest example of this is in the tobacco sector.

Separate to the retailers and their losses, approximately €540 million is lost to the Exchequer every year from contraband cigarettes being sold. In 2024, the total seizure of related goods was worth €128 million, which is to be welcomed. This was double the value of the total value of illegal cigarettes seized in 2023. The Revenue officers and the cross-Border agency task force work on this constantly, but there is a need for more staffing here. There is a shortage and they would pay for themselves, if you like. There could be possible redeployment.

The increase in the number of illicit products seized is not due to increased resources as there was minimal allocation of resources here. There has been a 25% increase in passenger arrivals into Irish airports and a 14.6% decrease in Revenue's staff from 630 people to 540 people. That is not to be welcomed. I want the Deputy Leader to bring to the Government the fact we need to have more people policing this and finding the contraband. A total of 37% of all cigarettes coming into the country are illegal cigarettes. That is how bad it is. We need to up the staffing. We are possibly at a level where we do not need to increase the price of cigarettes any more from a health perspective. It has reached a very high pinnacle. Whatever about pricing, we certainly need to increase staffing and stop the contraband cigarettes from every perspective. We should be supporting our retailers. The whole community depends on them.