April 22 2025

Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) has called attention to the fact that less than half (40%) of fines issued for summary prosecutions for tobacco smuggling are being tracked for payment or non-payment.

The organisation blamed the gulf on an ad-hoc system of coding of prosecutions.

It has now called on the Revenue Commissioner and Courts Service to urgently address serious gaps in the data relating to the payment of fines for tobacco-related convictions.

An analysis by RAS shows that over the five years from 2020 to 2024, there were a total of 316 summary convictions at District Court Level for tobacco offences, on charges such as smuggling or evasion of excise duty and illegal selling.

This resulted in 285 fines being issued.

However, the Courts Service can only provide data on whether fines were paid in relation to 114 of these convictions, amounting to only 40%.

This analysis is based on data sourced from a Freedom of Information request and answers to parliamentary questions.

Prosecution Codes

In response to RAS’s Freedom of Information request, the Courts Service advised that it can only provide data in relation to fines for which offence codes were used on the system by prosecutors.

Prosecutors may have used uncoded free text for some offences and thus, data is unavailable in these instances.

RAS has stated that it believes the ad-hoc system of prosecutors being able to enter any code they wish is inadequate and, given the importance of the quality of data to policy making and public service management, this practice must be addressed to ensure prosecutions are accurately coded.

The organisation has reached out to the government asking that they urgently address the ad-hoc system of coding to plug serious data gaps relating to the payment of fines for tobacco and related offences.

‘Adequate Enforcement’

Speaking about this call to action, RAS national spokesperson Barry Gilsenan said, “Fines for tobacco smuggling in Ireland are pathetically low, and we don’t know if they’re all being paid.

“Smuggling and illicit trade are increasingly prevalent and those caught engaging in these illegal acts must be properly held to account.

“Accurate data will allow policymakers to understand the state of the black market.

“RAS are calling for increased penalties levied on offenders and adequate enforcement of those penalties.

“As it stands, a majority of offenders are off the hook for their crimes, as they face no repercussions for their crimes.

“We must deter black market tobacco trade and protect legitimate retailers in the process.”