Ireland has the second-most-expensive cigarettes in Europe, costing €17.03
Ireland is the second most costly country in the EU for cigarettes, a new study has revealed.
Vaping experts, Vape Superstore, have analysed the cost of cigarettes in each country to reveal where smokers spend the most on cigarettes, with only the UK beating out Ireland to the top spot in the EU.
The Government has progressively increased tobacco taxes over the years, making smoking an increasingly costly habit, with a pack cigarettes now costing on average €17.03.
The 50 cent increase brought the price of the most popular category of cigarettes to €18.95 – among the EU’s most expensive.
The cost for brands such as Silk Cut or Benson and Hedges is now up to €18.95(Image: Getty)
Campaigners have said the 50c increase on the excise duty on a packet of 20 cigarettes is “unfair” on law-abiding consumers and retailers in Ireland.
Ahead of the Budget, the smokers’ group Forest had urged finance minister Paschal Donohoe to freeze excise duty on tobacco, arguing that a further increase would drive more smokers into the arms of criminal gangs and other illicit traders.
Simon Clark, director of Forest, said: “Purchased legally, tobacco costs more in Ireland than any other country in Europe. This latest tax hike, while relatively modest compared to last year, will drive even more smokers to the black market.
“Alternatively, many will buy their tobacco abroad where the cost is often significantly cheaper than at home.”
He added: “Punishing consumers, especially those from poorer backgrounds, by repeatedly raising the tax on tobacco is not only unfair. It’s also counter-productive because it will hurt legitimate retailers in Ireland, many of whom can’t afford the loss of income from the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products.”
The study by Vape Superstore found that the UK is the most expensive European country to buy a pack of cigarettes, costing €17.23, with Norwegian residents pay €13.75 (160.63 NOK) for one pack of cigarettes, making it the third most expensive country in Europe.
Meanwhile residents in the Marshall Islands pay €48 for one pack of cigarettes, the highest price in the world.
The remote island, 2,600 miles away from Australia, has a population of 37,000 people. The island relies on air and ship freight for deliveries due to its remote location, which inflates prices for a pack of cigarettes on the island.
Team hired by tobacco company cannot make arrests but can feed information to gardaí and Revenue
Vincent Byrne, global director of anti-illicit trade operations at Japan Tobacco International: ‘We are . . . trying to assist law enforcement where we can.’ Photograph: Chris Maddaloni
Written by Conor Pope
Tuesday, October 7th, 2025
The Dublin city centre street traders are very clued in when it comes to flogging dodgy smokes and quickly recognising a sting operation.
It is a bright September morning, and a team of investigators hired by Japan Tobacco International (JTI), one of the biggest tobacco companies in the world, gather in a Dublin hotel to map out their day.
The plan is to scour the north inner city for sellers of illegal tobacco before moving online to trace people using Facebook to ply their illicit trade. There will be no confrontations or arrests – JTI’s team have no authority on that score – but the team will pass their findings on to Revenue and gardaí, and hope they will take it from there.
Trevor (not his real name) is a young man in a tracksuit and baseball cap. He is JTI’s lead investigator. He has his homework already done and outlines his targets for the day. First up is one of the countless shops in Dublin’s inner city selling an eclectic mix of vapes, reconditioned phones, tablets and a range of knock-off Labubus.
With one of his team – and The Irish Times – lounging discreetly across the road and connected only by an earpiece, he wanders through the doors of the shop.
The interaction is short and to the point.
“Do you have any cigarettes?”
“Sure. What do you need?”
“Can I just get a packet of Marlboro Lights. How much are they?”
“€15.”
“They were a tenner yesterday?”
“Okay, €12.”
The money changes hands and Trevor pockets the cigarettes and leaves, after which the tobacco is placed in an evidence bag and he’s on to his next rogue trader – or at least that is the plan.
The previous day, he struck up a conversation with a woman in Dublin city centre who said she had cigarettes to sell. He told her he would be back. The only problem is, she is nowhere to be seen now, upon his return.
Trevor approaches some other traders on the street and asks for his prior contact by name. The sellers look confused and say they have never heard of her.
He explains in a whisper that he is looking for some cigarettes, but they say they cannot help him. He makes his way back to base empty-handed.
An hour later, another member of the JTI team tries his luck as The Irish Times lurks nearby. He approaches a woman with a plastic bag chock-full of cigarettes at her feet.
“Have you any cigarettes?”
“Not today, love.”
He shuffles up the street.
The Irish Times follows at a discreet distance, and as we pass the woman, she whispers to a fellow trader. “Watch your man in the grey jacket, the fella on the phone.”
The grapevine carries the alert up the street and minutes later the team member leaves the scene empty-handed.
The online pickings are more fruitful.
Vincent Byrne, global director of anti-illicit trade operations at JTI: ‘The street sales intelligence is not going to make a huge difference on its own.’ Photograph: Chris Maddaloni
Trevor has made a connection with a tobacco seller on Facebook Marketplace and has arranged to buy six pouches of rolling tobacco for €100, a discount of just under €60.
We drive to the man’s home in a well-heeled, gated apartment complex in south Dublin and make a call, after which the man pads out in shorts and T-shirt, tobacco in plain sight. He wanders gormlessly to the gate and tries to hand the contraband to a passerby, looking confused until Trevor beeps his horn and beckons him over.
The deal’s done with the target utterly oblivious to the fact he has now been marked as a criminal. When asked what will happen next, Trevor shrugs.
“If we think tracking this guy for a bit longer has value and will lead further up the chain, then we’ll do that. Otherwise, we’ll pass on the information to the guards and that’s that.”
The sale of illicit tobacco is big business in Ireland, and it is getting bigger. In 2022, Revenue seized more than 51 million dodgy cigarettes and approximately 11,800kg of illicit tobacco. Last year 112.3 million cigarettes and 39,500kg of tobacco were seized. More than one in four of the cigarettes smoked here fall foul of the law, and the trade is costing the exchequer about €600 million in lost revenue annually.
Vincent Byrne is the global director of anti-illicit trade operations at JTI, having joined in 2013. Before that, he served as a detective sergeant with the Criminal Assets Bureau.
“What you’ve seen today is at the bottom end of the street trade, but across the world, organised crime groups dominate the supply chain [and they’re] involved in other types of criminality as well, including drug and people trafficking,” he says.
He points to investigations highlighting how people working in illegal factories producing tobacco for the black market are effectively enslaved after being “lured with the promise of cash reward and payments”.
When Byrne talks of illegal factories it is easy to imagine faraway sweat shops, but sometimes it’s much closer to home.
Earlier this year, eight tonnes of raw tobacco were discovered at an illegal factory in Co Louth. The factory had the capacity to produce and package up to 700,000 cigarettes every day, Revenue said. Also seized were 660,000 illicit cigarettes with a retail value of €595,000 – with a potential loss to the exchequer of almost €470,000.
Byrne says it’s “very difficult to get an exact handle on the illegal trade because, unfortunately, organised crime groups never make official returns”, but internal JTI figures suggest it’s about 25 per cent of all cigarettes smoked in Ireland.
He says the sting operations are key to getting “a sense of what’s happening and what’s out there”.
“The street sales intelligence is not going to make a huge difference on its own but that context is needed to form part of the bigger picture.”
Byrne notes that black-market tobacco is sold without any controls, but the legitimate products are hardly good for people either, causing cancer, emphysema, heart disease and all sorts of other life-threatening and -limiting conditions. In most stakeouts and stings, there are good guys and bad guys, but these operations run by Big Tobacco are more a case of bad guys and more tax-compliant bad guys.
Byrne – a non-smoker – stresses he is not focused on the morality or wisdom of smoking, and says his concern is whether the product is legal or illegal.
“JTI and the other tobacco companies are legal companies [that] produce a legal product, whether you like that or not,” he says.
“You might dislike the industry and say we’re the bad guys, but we’re a legal industry and we’re highly regulated. We contribute to the Government with excise and, because we take the issue of illegal trade seriously, we are actually contributing and trying to assist law enforcement where we can.”
He says the same “can’t be said for the bad guys, the criminal networks”.
There has been an increase in consumers purchasing tobacco at duty-free or abroad, according to a new poll commissioned by Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS).
In the poll, carried out by Amárach on behalf of RAS, the proportion of customers solely buying tobacco abroad or in duty-free has more than doubled – from 8% in May to 19% in August 2025.
RAS notes that these figures illustrate that Ireland’s Tobacco Products Tax is ‘incentivising’ more consumers to purchase tobacco abroad at a lower cost.
The group added that the lack of enforcement capacity by Revenue means that large volumes of cigarettes coming back to Ireland are in breach of duty-free and travel allowances.
These findings further add to concerns over the scale of untaxed and illicit tobacco already in circulation, which is hurting legitimate retailers and causing a financial loss to the Exchequer.
The Revenue Commissioners’ Illegal Tobacco Product Research Surveys 2024 found that 37% of cigarette packs in circulation carried no Irish stamp duty.
Including roll-your-own tobacco, this represented a tax loss of €934 million in 2024 alone.
RAS warned that, unless effective action is taken against purchases made in excess of travel allowances, smuggling and illicit trade will continue to erode legitimate retail business and undermine Exchequer returns.
Now RAS is calling on the government to take decisive action in Budget 2026 to tackle the sale of illicit tobacco in Ireland.
It suggests that the government introduce a freeze on excise duty on tobacco products, in a bid to halt the growth of Ireland’s untaxed tobacco market, and recruit an additional 250 members of Revenue Commissioner frontier staff to provide a visible and effective deterrent and enforcement capacity at Dublin’s ports and airports.
‘A Direct Blow’
RAS spokesperson Benny Gilsenan commented on the results of the poll, saying, “The poll blatantly shows that Irish consumers are increasingly sourcing tobacco outside the state.
“Every purchase made abroad or in travel retail in excess of legal limits is a direct blow to the bottom line of retailers and the Exchequer, and even more so when these products are sold on the black market.
“It’s time for the government to recognise that the behavioural shift is directly driven by successive excise increases and take meaningful actions to tackle this behavioural shift by consumers while protecting legitimate retailers.”
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.
Thirty-seven percent of 1,000 respondents to a recent Irish Thinks survey admitted to being open to buying goods or services from illicit sources
25 July 2025
In the Tax Strategy Group’s paper on General Excise, it is recognised that, despite rate increases to Tobacco Products Tax (TPT) in successive budgets, there has been a noticeable decline in receipts while smoking prevalence remains the same.
The forecasting of tobacco tax returns has become increasingly difficult due to the alarming rate at which illicit trade and smuggling of non-Irish duty paid products is taking place.
The Tax Strategy Group warns that “the notable increases in the volume of products being consumed outside the scope of Irish excise duty raises concerns that price increases may be creating greater incentive for black market activity.”
Black market activity
RAS has welcomed the admission by the Tax Strategy Group that excessive excise duty is likely increasing black market activity, which may help explain the tsunami of cigarette smuggling which Ireland is currently facing.
The connection between hikes in excise duty on tobacco products and increases in black market activity is verified by the level of seizures of illegal cigarettes in the first six months of this year.
Major seizures
In 2023, a total of 31 major seizures came to the value of €58 million, at a loss of €45 million to the exchequer.
So far, in the first half of this year alone, there have been 27 major seizures, worth a total value of around €53 million and a loss to the exchequer of €40 million.
The latest Illegal Tobacco Products Research Survey from 2023 indicates that more than one third of cigarette packs consumed in the State are illicit or non-duty paid.
Notable increases in the volume of products being consumed outside the scope of Irish excise duty should raise concerns within Government that price increases are serving to drive more consumers to the black market and are making Ireland a target destination for criminal gangs selling illicit products.
Illicit trading
Price increases across the economy are playing a major role in the normalisation of illicit trade activity, with 37% of 1,000 respondents to a recent Irish Thinks survey admitting to being open to buying goods or services from illicit sources, if the price was substantially lower than the legal market value.
RAS believes these trends should be a key consideration in the context of Budget 2025. RAS also contends that with tobacco receipts regularly exceeding €1 billion annually, it is not unreasonable that more of this revenue should be spent on enforcement with a view to protecting the revenue source.
In its 2025 pre-budget submission, RAS is calling on the Government to:
Reduce/freeze consumer taxes including tobacco excise
Increase funding for detection and enforcement of smuggling
Amend the Finance Act to prosecute all suspected smugglers at Circuit Court level or higher
The group that represents over 3,000 small and medium sized retailers across the country noted that the Tax Strategy Group (TSG) Papers for 2026 admit that the prevalence of illicit and non-Irish duty paid tobacco illustrate that increases to excise duties ‘may not lead to increased revenue’, reinforcing that excise increases are fuelling a booming black market, rather than reducing smoking rates.
The papers follow on from Revenue’s recently published Illegal Tobacco Products Research Survey 2024- independently conducted by Ipsos MRBI- which revealed a staggering total loss of roughly €934 million in taxpayer money to illegal tobacco products last year alone, it added.
TSG publication
The TSG publication, which sets out options for tax policy changes, acknowledged that annual figures show the excise on tobacco products, which has increased by steadily increased by €3.75 since 2019, is having the opposite of its intended effect- pushing consumers to purchase illicit or non-duty paid tobacco, while the revenue generated by Tobacco Product Tax falls year on year.
According to the publication, despite intentions to increase revenue to the Exchequer through increased Tobacco Product Taxation, figures show that TPT revenue has in fact plummeted from €1.32 billion in 2020, to just €976 million in 2023- a loss of €342 million to the taxpayer.
Even more concerning, the TSG Papers noted that three quarters of this yield was collected prior to the Budget 2025 excise increase.
Meanwhile, Revenue statistics show the value of tobacco seizures doubled between 2023 and 2024, to €130 million, it added.
Benny Gilsenan, national spokesperson, RAS, stated: “As admitted by the Government in the latest Tax Strategy Group Papers, it is clear that increasing excise on tobacco products is not only having no effect on smoking rates- with €934 million in lost taxes on tobacco products, the scale of Ireland’s untaxed tobacco market is staggering – and it’s taking business away from legitimate Irish retailers in Ireland”
The TSG papers also call-out and discuss RAS’ pre-budget submission, which highlights this trend of tax loss in comparison to excise increase, and submits that a freeze on excise and improved detection and enforcement of illicit trade is the best option to increase TPT revenue and to put money back into taxpayer pockets.
Big spike
Reference is made to the stark Revenue Commissioner survey published this April, which revealed a whopping 37% spike in illicit market cigarettes.
These accounted for 26% of all cigarettes in circulation in 2024 compared to 19% in 2023, and were worth over €590 million in lost taxes.
RAS estimates that a further €249 million was lost on the survey’s reported 11% travel purchases of cigarettes in 2024.
No Irish excise or VAT has been paid on any of these cigarettes and RAS is concerned that many of these ‘legal’ cigarettes are being brought in breach of duty free and travel allowances.
RAS estimates that a further €95 million was lost in taxes on RYO Tobacco in 2024, bringing the total taxpayer losses on tobacco products to an astounding €934 million in one year alone.
“Continuous increases in excise are driving people to purchase the cigarettes from the black market or abroad, and we are seeing less money from the Tobacco Products Tax every year it is increased,” Gilsenan added.
“It has become clear it is no longer a financially viable approach, and it is time for the Government to focus on tackling illicit trade, rather than taking measures which affect legitimate retailers and the taxpayer.”
RAS pre-Budget submission
In its pre-budget submission, RAS are calling on the Government to:
Freeze excise on cigarettes, which is already the highest in Europe, and is clearly fuelling tobacco smuggling
Increase staffing and scanner resources to detect illegal tobacco being smuggled into Ireland, including through our airports through breaches of duty-free allowances
Increase the fines and prison sentences for court convictions for illegal smuggling.
Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) has called for urgent action to be taken to combat black market tobacco as the Tax Strategy Group (TSG) Papers for 2026 admit that the prevalence of illicit and non-Irish duty paid tobacco illustrate that increases to excise duties ‘may not lead to increased revenue’, reinforcing that excise increases are fuelling a booming black market, rather than reducing smoking rates.
The papers follow on from Revenue’s recently published Illegal Tobacco Products Research Survey 2024- independently conducted by Ipsos MRBI- which revealed a staggering total loss of roughly €934 million in taxpayer money to illegal tobacco products last year alone.
The TSG publication, which sets out options for tax policy changes, acknowledged that annual figures show the excise on tobacco products, which has increased by steadily increased by €3.75 since 2019, is having the opposite of its intended effect– pushing consumers to purchase illicit or non-duty paid tobacco, while the revenue generated by Tobacco Product Tax falls year on year.
Despite intentions to increase revenue to the Exchequer through increased Tobacco Product Taxation, figures show that TPT revenue has in fact plummeted from €1.32 billion in 2020, to just €976 million in 2023- a loss of €342 million to the taxpayer. Even more concerning, the TSG Papers note that three quarters of this yield was collected prior to the Budget 2025 excise increase. Meanwhile, Revenue statistics show the value of tobacco seizures doubled between 2023 and 2024, to €130 million.
The TSG papers also call-out and discuss RAS’ pre-budget submission, which highlights this trend of tax loss in comparison to excise increase, and submits that a freeze on excise and improved detection and enforcement of illicit trade is the best option to increase TPT revenue and to put money back into taxpayer pockets.
Reference is made to the stark Revenue Commissioner survey published this April, which revealed a whopping 37% spike in illicit market cigarettes. These accounted for 26% of all cigarettes in circulation in 2024 compared to 19% in 2023, and were worth over €590 million in lost taxes. RAS estimates that a further €249 million was lost on the survey’s reported 11% travel purchases of cigarettes in 2024. No Irish excise or VAT has been paid on any of these cigarettes and Retailers Against Smuggling is concerned that many of these ‘legal’ cigarettes are being brought in breach of duty free and travel allowances. RAS estimates that a further €95 million was lost in taxes on RYO Tobacco in 2024, bringing the total taxpayer losses on tobacco products to an astounding €934 million in one year alone.1
RAS National Spokesperson Benny Gilsenan stated:
“As admitted by the Government in the latest Tax Strategy Group Papers, it is clear that increasing excise on tobacco products is not only having no effect on smoking rates– with €934 million in lost taxes on tobacco products, the scale of Ireland’s untaxed tobacco market is staggering – and it’s taking business away from legitimate Irish retailers.
“Continuous increases in excise are driving people to purchase the cigarettes from the black market or abroad, and we are seeing less money from the Tobacco Products Tax every year it is increased. It has become clear it is no longer a financially viable approach, and it is time for the Government to focus on tackling illicit trade, rather than taking measures which affect legitimate retailers and the taxpayer.”
In its pre-budget submission, Retailers Against Smuggling are calling on the Government to:
Freeze excise on cigarettes, which is already the highest in Europe, and is clearly fuelling tobacco smuggling;
Increase staffing and scanner resources to detect illegal tobacco being smuggled into Ireland, including through our airports through breaches of duty-free allowances;
Increase the fines and prison sentences for court convictions for illegal smuggling.
Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) has said that the Revenue Commissioner’s Illegal Tobacco Products Research Survey 2024 proves that the Government is losing the battle against Ireland’s booming market in illicit tobacco, stating that the untaxed cigarette market is now worth €790 million.
Wednesday’s Revenue Commissioner survey found that 37 per cent of cigarette packs in circulation had no Irish excise duty paid as they were either illegal or purchased outside Ireland.
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This marks an increase from 34 per cent in 2023. In the case of the roll-your-own tobacco market, the proportion of products in circulation with no Irish duty paid was a massive 49 per cent.
The regulated cigarette market in Ireland – for which excise duty was paid – had a total retail value €1.34 billion in 2024, meaning that untaxed cigarette market – making up the 37 per cent of the cigarettes in circulation according to this week’s survey – had a retail value of €790 million in 2024, RAS said.
€550 million of this was accounted for by illegal cigarettes. The Revenue Commissioners successfully seized €96 million in illegal cigarettes in 2024, meaning they seized less than one in five of all illegal cigarettes in circulation in Ireland last year.
RAS spokesperson, Benny Gilsenan, said: “With a retail value of €790 million, the scale of Ireland’s untaxed tobacco market is staggering – and it’s taking business away from legitimate Irish retailers.
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“It is clear that the Government has lost control of Ireland’s tobacco black market; and their current rate of seizure is only the tip of the iceberg. Ireland needs a new strategy to tackle illegal cigarette smuggling.”
“One of the main reasons Ireland’s untaxed cigarette market has grown so large is because continuous increases in excise are driving people to purchase the cigarettes from the black market or abroad, a trend being allowed by a serious lack of enforcement of duty free and travel allowances.”
Retailers Against Smuggling siad they are calling on the Government to:
Freeze excise on cigarettes, which is already the highest in Europe, and is clearly fuelling tobacco smuggling;
Increase staffing and scanner resources to detect illegal tobacco being smuggled into Ireland, including through our airports through breaches of duty-free allowances;
Increase the fines and prison sentences for court convictions for illegal smuggling.
Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) has called for the Department of Finance to introduce a freeze on the Tobacco Products Tax, to help fight the spiralling black market in illicit tobacco.
The RAS pre-Budget submission, lodged ahead of Budget 2026, was hand-delivered on Thursday, to the Department of Finance, by retail representatives from Dublin and Limerick.
In addition to a freeze on the Tobacco Products Tax, the submission calls for the recruitment of 250 additional frontier staff members and the purchase of additional scanners to detect illegal tobacco and enforce duty-free travel allowances.
It also called for an increase in the fines and prison sentences handed down for court convictions of illegal smuggling.
RAS noted that the recent publication of the Revenue Commissioner’sIllegal Tobacco Product Research Surveys 2024 proves that the government is losing the battle against Ireland’s spiralling market in illicit tobacco.
The survey found that 37% of cigarette packs in circulation had no Irish excise duty paid thereon, as they were either illegal or purchased outside of Ireland.
In the case of the roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco market, the proportion of products in circulation with no Irish duty paid was a staggering 49%.
Based on Revenue’s survey, RAS estimates that the retail value of Ireland’s untaxed market is now worth €790 million.
The Revenue Commissioner’s survey further concludes that the scale of illegal cigarette sales in 2024 resulted in €590 million in lost taxes to the Exchequer.
RAS estimates that a further €249 million was lost on the 11% travel purchases of cigarettes, and a further €95 million lost in taxes on RYO tobacco, resulting in €934 million in lost taxes in 2024.
‘Spiralling Out Of Control’
Dublin retailer and RAS national spokesperson Barry Gilsenan said, as he delivered the pre-Budget submission, “Ireland’s black market in tobacco is spiralling out of control – and it’s taking business away from legitimate Irish retailers.
“One of the main reasons Ireland’s untaxed cigarette market has grown so large is because continuous increases in excise are driving people to purchase the cigarettes from the black market or abroad.
“What’s worse, the latest Revenue figures don’t reflect the whopping €1 excise on cigarettes in last year’s Budget.
“We are calling on the government to take tough and decisive action in Budget 2026 to protect legitimate retailers from tobacco-smuggling and the out-of-control black market in tobacco.
“This needs to include a freeze in excise to tobacco, to try to halt the flight of consumers to the black market and to allow the government and Revenue Commissioners to get on top of the problem before it gets any worse.”
