Damien English (Meath, Fine Gael)
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Question 75: To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of income the State has lost out on through the illegal smuggling of cigarettes and alcohol into the State for the years 1997 to 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32570/04]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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It is not possible to provide an accurate figure for the amounts lost to the Exchequer in any year in respect of smuggling as the level of undetected smuggling can never be known. However, it is the view of the Revenue Commissioners that the level of penetration of the Irish market by contraband cigarettes and alcohol is low and consequently losses to the Exchequer are low.

Smuggling of excisable products is always a matter of concern and the Revenue Commissioners have been actively engaged in combating it with many important seizures in recent years. In the period 1997 to 2004, Revenue's customs service made 18,730 seizures of cigarettes and tobacco, involving 576 million cigarettes and 40,000 kilos of tobacco. It is clear from the brands involved that many were destined for Northern Ireland or the UK. In the same period, there were 1,076 seizures, involving 575,000 litres of alcohol and several illicit distilleries were also detected.