Research confirms surge in illegal cigarettes

ONE in three cigarettes in Dublin is illegal according to recently released statistics that confirm the concerns of struggling retailers across the city.

Research conducted by market research group MS Intelligence and published last week shows that 33.1 per cent of cigarettes in Dublin are circulated and sold without the payment of Irish duty.

Benny Gilsenan, who owns Benny’s on Emmet Street, opposite Croke Park, is spokesperson for the Retailers Against Smuggling. He said the statistics reveal nothing new for hard-pressed shop owners across the city.

“We have been highlighting just how big the problem is for some time now but we haven’t been taken seriously,

? he told Northside People.

“We are the ones on the ground who know exactly what’s happening and how bad the problem iof illegal cigarettes is.

“We know that the market is growing for smugglers but people still don’t seem to take heed of our warnings and how much we have highlighted the health risk associated with illegal cigarettes.

“Analysis has been carried out that has shown that smokes bought on the black market can contain rat poison, rat droppings and asbestos.

?

Mr Gilsenan agrees that many smokers are no longer able to afford to pay e9.20 for a pack of 20 and are therefore increasingly opting to buy cigarettes sold at half the price, regardless of the health risk.

“It’s simply never going to happen that the Government will reduce the price of cigarettes, especially when they earn

?¬7.40 from each pack sold,

? he explained.

“It seems that the Government is more concerned about what they could earn from the sale of cigarettes than the amount of money they are losing from the sale of smuggled smokes.

?

Mr Gilsenan’s views were echoed by the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers’ Advisory Committee (ITMAC), which blamed the Government for the rise of non-Irish duty paid (NIDP) cigarettes.

“Following the Government’s increase in the VAT and excise in the last budget, pushing the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes to over

?¬9, there has been a surge in the amount of NIDP cigarettes on the streets,

? said an ITMAC spokesperson.

“The Government clearly do not see the illegal tobacco trade as serious an issue as they made it out to be in their programme for Government where fine increases and jail sentences were promised to help fight the flow of illegal cigarettes into the country.

“All we see are the fines and punishments staying the same with no decrease in the amount of illegal cigarettes available freely on every street corner in the country.

“Ireland is a target for international crime gangs due to our paltry fines and the ease at which illegal cigarettes can be sold here.

?

According to the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers’ Advisory Committee, the situation is costing Ireland hundreds of millions of euro each year and is bringing crime into the community.