Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Finance if he has any indicative figures of the potential loss of excise duty from the sale of tobacco illicitly. [10464/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that determining the scale of any illicit black market activity, and the loss of excise duty that it causes, is problematic, and any estimates of such loss need to be viewed with caution. In the case of cigarettes, I am advised that a survey in respect of 2011 carried out for the Revenue Commissioners and the Health Services Executive found that some 770 million illicit cigarettes were consumed in the State. This would indicate a loss of the order of €258 million in excise duty and VAT, in that year.

A similar survey was undertaken in 2012, and the results are being compiled at present.