942. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he is aware of recent media reports (details supplied) highlighting significant illicit cigarette seizures in Ireland given that seizures in the first three months of 2026 have nearly equalled the total for all of 2025; whether he accepts that, notwithstanding the Revenue Commissioner's enforcement successes, current tobacco excise rates may be incentivising smokers to seek illicit alternatives and making Ireland a target for smugglers; whether he will take these factors into account in preparing this year's budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25539/26]

Tánaiste and Minister for Finance: Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in Ireland. This situation is a significant public health concern for successive Governments who have committed to disincentivising tobacco use, particularly among young people. A key element of Government’s multi-faceted policy approach to achieve this is our commitment to high taxation of tobacco. This tax strategy is endorsed by the World Health Organisation as being the most effective in reducing smoking prevalence, in particular among younger people. Successive Ministers for Finance have introduced annual tax changes to raise the price of tobacco, with the clear objective of lowering the level and uptake of smoking in Ireland. Such an approach was strongly supported by our Commission on Taxation and Welfare in the report of its comprehensive review of Ireland’s tax and social welfare systems, which recognised tobacco tax as a behavioural tax directed at supporting public health, and explicitly endorsed “using tobacco taxation to fight tobacco consumption”.

For some years now, Ireland’s taxation of tobacco products is amongst the highest in the EU. Of course, we need to remain conscious that while tax increases have been one of the tools successfully used to disincentivise smoking, continued increases can, over time, also displace some demand towards smuggled products or those which have been taxed in other jurisdictions at lower rates.

Conscious of this, Revenue identifies and pursues tax non-compliance and smuggling activity in relation to tobacco.

Revenue targets the illicit tobacco trade through a range of measures. Central to this is identifying and targeting the smuggling of illicit tobacco products into the State, with a view to disrupting the supply chain, seizing the products and prosecuting those involved.

Revenue’s strategy involves developing and sharing intelligence on a national, EU and international basis, the use of analytics and detection technologies, which includes analysis of online activities, and ensuring the optimum deployment of resources on a risk-focused basis. Revenue keeps its measures and controls under continuous review having regard to ongoing risk assessment of smuggling and criminal activities, and evolving operational needs, and adjusts its approach as required.

Revenue’s continuous success in the interception and seizure of illicit tobacco products is a testament to the organisation’s commitment in its role to safeguard and implement customs controls.

While Revenue’s role is the administration of tax and duty law and implementation of customs controls, effective enforcement of tobacco duties supports Ireland’s public-health aims by limiting access to untaxed and cheap tobacco.

Furthermore, new regulations which strengthen the controls relating to the amount of duty-paid tobacco products an individual can bring into Ireland from another EU Member State were introduced on 9 December 2025. These new rules help to ensure that Excise Duty reliefs for personal use are not abused.

EU law sets out the various factors to be considered in determining whether tobacco products brought into the State are for an individual’s own use, including indicative quantities, as follows:

• 800 cigarettes

• 400 cigarillos

• 200 cigars

• 1 kilogram of other tobacco products (such as roll-your-own tobacco.

Under the new regulations, where an individual brings in duty-paid tobacco products in excess of these quantities, this will be taken as clear evidence that the goods are not for personal use and the full quantity of goods will be seized. The individual may also be prosecuted. In the two-month period following the introduction of the new tobacco regulations, Revenue officers have seized some 838,000 duty paid cigarettes and 63kgs of tobacco from a total of 477 individuals.