53. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 456 of 26 May 2026, his views that each of the Revenue Commissioner's Illegal Tobacco Products Surveys since 2019 demonstrate a clear correlation between continued tobacco product tax increases and an increase in demand for smuggled tobacco products and non-Irish duty paid tobacco products; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46132/26]

54. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if, as part of ongoing risk assessments, his Department has factored the risk of increasing revenue losses as a result of increases in non-duty paid and illegal tobacco products in circulation in Ireland; and if the risk assessment process has assessed the economic logic of continuing excise increases. [46133/26]

55. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance his Department's policy when a tax increase is no longer resulting in increased Exchequer receipts; whether there is a point at which a tax is considered to have reached the limits of its effectiveness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46134/26]

Simon Harris, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance: I propose to take Questions Nos. 53, 54 and 55 together.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in Ireland and remains one of the biggest avoidable health risks in Irish society. This situation is a significant public health concern for successive Governments who have committed to reducing the prevalence of smoking, particularly among younger people. A key element of the Government’s multi-faceted policy approach to achieve this is our commitment to high taxation of tobacco. A high tax strategy is endorsed by the World Health Organisation as being the most effective measure for reducing tobacco consumption. 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. This approach was strongly supported by the 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. I am conscious that while tax increases have been successfully used to disincentivise smoking, continued tax increases can redirect demand towards smuggled products or to products taxed at lower rates in other jurisdictions.

The annual Tobacco Survey - which is commissioned jointly by the Revenue Commissioners and the Health Service Executive’s National Tobacco Control Office - estimates the volume of non-Irish duty-paid cigarettes and roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco consumed in Ireland. The most recent surveys conducted by Ipsos B&A found that 38% of cigarette packs and 45% of RYO packs surveyed did not have Irish duty paid on them.

Both my Department and Revenue, in its role as the national tax and customs administration, are well aware that Ireland’s high taxation of tobacco products provides an incentive for certain actors to source and supply illegal products. In this context, Revenue robustly targets the illicit tobacco trade using a range of measures to identify and target the smuggling, supply or sale of illicit tobacco products in the State and, where possible, prosecuting those involved. Revenue monitors trends in the illicit tobacco trade on an ongoing basis and adjusts its actions and redeploys its resources on an agile, risk-focussed basis. As of 31 May this year, Revenue has made over 2,500 seizures of cigarettes and 690 seizures of RYO tobacco with 78.6m cigarettes and 891 kg of RYO products seized. Revenue has also secured 26 convictions for offences related to tobacco smuggling or evasion of excise duty on tobacco products and 25 convictions for offences related to illegal selling of tobacco products with fines totalling €76,450 imposed by the courts for tobacco offences.

Notwithstanding considerable success by Revenue in targeting the illicit tobacco trade, the very high volume of products being consumed outside the scope of Irish excise duty raises concerns that price increases may be creating greater incentives for illegal market activity. These trends are a consideration in coming to decisions about future tax rates. In making these policy decisions regarding rates, we need to strike an appropriate balance so that our tobacco tax regime operates as effectively as possible in contributing to the achievement of our important public health goals.