373. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the Revenue Commissioners assessment of the proportion of the illicit cigarette and roll your own tobacco market intercepted through seizures given the estimated Exchequer loss of €648 million on illegal cigarettes and €110 million on illegal roll your own tobacco in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [73683/26]
Topics / Illicit Trade
A subject heading for parliamentary questionsIllicit Trade
55 questions from 17 TDs, between 6 February 2025 and 20 October 2026.
55
questions
55 written, 0 oral
17
TDs have asked
7
parties and groups
Independents counted together
2
departments asked
Questions per month
The record holds no questions for August, when the Dáil does not sit.
Jan 2025Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions |
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| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 3 |
| March 2025 | 1 |
| April 2025 | 1 |
| May 2025 | 4 |
| June 2025 | 3 |
| July 2025 | 1 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 |
| October 2025 | 3 |
| November 2025 | 4 |
| December 2025 | 0 |
| January 2026 | 12 |
| February 2026 | 1 |
| March 2026 | 2 |
| April 2026 | 0 |
| May 2026 | 0 |
| June 2026 | 0 |
| July 2026 | 0 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 9 |
| October 2026 | 11 |
Who asks, by party
The party each TD belonged to on the day, in alphabetical order. Parties differ a lot in size, and members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them, so this shows who raised it, not how much a party cares about it.
The TDs who asked most
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them. Each question counts once.
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The questions
374. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of individual cigarette and tobacco seizures made by each frontier management branch in each of the years 2020 to 2025 and to date in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [73682/26]
375. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the reasons loose tobacco seizures by the Revenue Commissioners fell from 39,407kg in 2024 and 23,673kg in 2025 to 1,692kg to the end of September 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [73681/26]
377. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 70322/26, the reasons cigarette seizures by south FMB fell from 16.1 million in 2024 to 0.8 million in 2025 and 0.7 million to the end of September 2026, and seizures by east-west FMB fell from 33.9 million in 2024 to 6.1 million in 2025; whether these falls reflect changes in staffing, scanning equipment, detect…
378. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of seizures, quantity and value of cigarettes and tobacco seized, and the estimated loss to the Exchequer, at the Port of Cork including Ringaskiddy and Cork Airport, respectively, in each of the years 2020 to 2025 and to date in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [73678/26]
110. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of criminal prosecutions initiated, convictions secured and fines imposed in respect of the sale or supply of illegal tobacco products in each of the years 2020 to 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of retail premises found to be selling illicit tobacco in the same period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70326/26]
111. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the excise duty and total tax payable on a pack of 20 cigarettes in the most popular price category in the State, compared with Spain, France, the United Kingdom and the EU average, as of 1 September 2026; the analysis carried out by the Department on the extent to which this differential is driving purchases outside the State and on the illicit mark…
112. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if his Department or the Revenue Commissioners have estimated the effect of each of the excise increases on tobacco products announced in Budgets 2020 to 2026 on the level of legal duty paid consumption, cross border and travel purchases, and illicit consumption; the projected and actual excise yield from each such increase; and if he will make a sta…
113. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of Revenue staff, in whole-time equivalent terms, assigned to tobacco smuggling detection and enforcement at ports, airports and postal hubs in each of the years 2020 to 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of scanners and detector dog teams deployed for this purpose in each year; if additional resources for tobacco enforcement are planned…
114. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of seizures of cigarettes and of other tobacco products made by Revenue in each of the years 2020 to 2025 and to date in 2026; the volume and estimated value seized in each year, broken down by point of detection, including Dublin Port, Rosslare Europort, Dublin Airport, Cork Airport, Shannon Airport, the postal and parcel system and inlan…
115. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the estimated loss to the Exchequer from illegal cigarettes and illegal roll-your-own tobacco, respectively, in each of the years 2020 to 2025, as estimated by the Revenue Commissioners in the Illegal Tobacco Products Research Survey; the proportion of cigarettes consumed in the State that were illegal, legal non-Irish duty paid and Irish duty paid, …
284. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if his Department received or considered any independent analysis, including analysis prepared by an organisation (details supplied), on the likely effect of the e-liquid products tax on the illicit market and on tax leakage prior to commencement; and if his Department will publish any such assessment held. [67919/26]
285. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if, prior to the introduction of the E-liquid Products Tax, his Department or the Revenue Commissioners assessed a tax-stamp and track-and-trace model as an alternative to the self-declaration first-supply model; the projected tax leakage under each option considered; and the reasons a self-declaration model was chosen. [67917/26]
290. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if counterfeit toys seized by customs are assessed for child-safety and CE compliance and referred for destruction where a serious risk is identified; and the number so referred in 2025 and to date in 2026. [67975/26]
291. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if the Revenue Commissioners undertake joint or co-ordinated operations with An Garda Síochána and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission targeting retail premises selling counterfeit goods; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67974/26]
292. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of counterfeit or unsafe product detections referred by the Revenue Commissioners to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in each of the years 2024 and 2025 and to date in 2026. [67973/26]
293. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the resources, including staffing, allocated to customs enforcement against counterfeit goods at ports, mail centres and other points of importation; and if he is satisfied that this resourcing is adequate. [67972/26]
294. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if the Revenue Commissioners have identified counterfeit goods, including counterfeit toys and electronic accessories, being imported through or from Northern Ireland and sold in retail premises alongside untaxed or non-compliant e-liquid products; and the enforcement action taken. [67971/26]
295. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number, category and estimated value of counterfeit goods seized by the Revenue Commissioners through Customs in each of the years 2024 and 2025 and to date in 2026; and the number of such cases referred for prosecution. [67970/26]
272. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the remit of Operation Tombola; if it will be in operation this year; the start date; if an earlier start date will be considered; and the efficacy of this operation since 2020. [66009/26]
224. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of X-ray scanners used to detect illicit trade and smuggling at ports; the number of times they were deployed and used at individual named ports in the State in each year from 2020 to the end of February 2026; if it is planned to increase the number of X-ray scanners in use at ports and airports (details supplied); and if he will make a st…
225. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of sniffer dog teams being used to detect illicit trade and smuggling at ports; the number of times they were deployed at each individual port in the State from 2020 to date in 2026. (details supplied); if it is planned to increase the number of sniffer dogs in use in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21074/26]
207. Deputy Noel McCarthy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the further measures being considered by his Department to combat the illicit tobacco trade, considering the year-on-year decrease in the volume and value of illicit tobacco products seized in 2025, as per the Revenue Commissioners headline results for 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10060/26]
389. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the specific monitoring or targeted enforcement operations in place in the Border region to address trade in illicit roll-your-own tobacco; the results of such operations over the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3456/26]
313. Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the estimated scale and value of the illicit roll-your-own tobacco market in Ireland; the most recent figures available on seizures and Revenue assessments; the estimated loss to the Exchequer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2976/26]