September 24, 2025

Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) have launched a new website to tackle the issue of smuggling in Ireland and its impact on the retail sector.

The group is also hosting a pre-budget reception in Doheny Nesbitts on Baggot Street this evening, Wednesday 24 September, for political officials and local retailers to spotlight how the documented surge in tobacco smuggling in recent years is undermining retailers’ revenues and costing the state millions of euros.

The newly launched RAS website lays bare the figures, which charts the rising values of seized tobacco, which ballooned from €63 million in 2023, to €128 million in 2024, as well as the estimated €934 million in total lost revenue from tobacco products last year.

In April, the Revenue Commission published a survey which revealed a staggering 37% spike in illicit market cigarettes alone, which now account for more than one in four (26%) of all cigarettes in circulation in 2024, compared to less than one in five (19% in 2023, and were worth over €590 million in lost taxes.

As well as a steep rise in the prevalence of illicit and non-duty paid tobacco, RAS’s own surveys conducted by Amárach this year found a shift in consumer behaviour.

Between May and August this year, the percentage of consumers purchasing tobacco and vape products exclusively abroad or in duty free, as opposed to Irish retailers, has more than doubled, rising from 8% to 19%.

‘Legitimate Retailers Cannot Compete With Criminals’

RAS spokespersons Benny Gilsenan and Philip Craddock will speak at the event.

In his speech, Gilsenan will say, “RAS acknowledges and welcomes the efforts of Revenue to tackle smuggling, but the reality is: it’s simply not enough.

“Legitimate retailers cannot compete with criminals reselling illegal products at a fraction of the price.

“This is destroying livelihoods, distorting the market, and undermining public finances.

“Tonight, as we launch our new website and share our (Pre-Budget) Submission, we send one message: the Government must act now to get on top of this problem before it gets any worse.”

Ahead of next week’s Budget, the group is calling for a freeze on the excise on cigarettes – which is the highest in Europe – as well as increased staffing and scanner resources to detect illegal tobacco being smuggled into Ireland and increase in the fines and prison sentences for court convictions for illegal smuggling.