Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Finance if records are kept of which brands of tobacco are included in smuggled or illegally sold tobacco which are intercepted by law enforcement; if so, if he will provide data on which brands have been found in illegal shipments or sales in the past year for which date is available; and the percentage of confiscated tobacco that is accounted for by each brand. [10204/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that action against the illegal trade in tobacco products resulted in the seizure of 95.6 million cigarettes in 2012, and that some 473 brands were found in the seized product. While not all seizures are tested, I am further advised that it is very frequently the case, particularly in relation to well known cigarette brands, that seized cigarettes are counterfeit. Of the total 473 brands seized, 15 of these brands each represented 1 per cent or more of the total seizures. Details of those brands and of the percentages of total seizures that they accounted for are set out in the following table.

Brands accounting for 1 per cent or more of total cigarette seizures, 2012