{"id":646,"date":"2025-09-30T08:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T08:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/?p=646"},"modified":"2025-09-30T08:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T08:55:09","slug":"ras-launches-new-website-to-tackle-unprecedented-smuggling-figures-checkout-ie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/2025\/09\/30\/ras-launches-new-website-to-tackle-unprecedented-smuggling-figures-checkout-ie\/","title":{"rendered":"RAS Launches New Website To Tackle Unprecedented Smuggling Figures | Checkout.ie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

September 24, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS)<\/a>\u00a0have launched\u00a0a new website\u00a0to tackle the issue of smuggling in Ireland and its impact on the retail sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019 revenues and costing the state millions of euros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newly launched RAS website lays bare the figures, which charts the rising values of seized tobacco, which ballooned from \u20ac63 million in 2023, to \u20ac128 million in 2024, as well as the estimated \u20ac934 million in total lost revenue from tobacco products last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April, the Revenue Commission published a survey which revealed a staggering 37% spike in illicit market\u00a0cigarettes\u00a0alone, 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 \u20ac590 million in lost taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as a steep rise in the prevalence of illicit and non-duty paid tobacco, RAS\u2019s own surveys conducted by\u00a0Am\u00e1rach\u00a0this year found a shift in consumer behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Legitimate Retailers Cannot Compete With Criminals\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

RAS spokespersons Benny Gilsenan<\/a> and Philip Craddock will speak at the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his speech, Gilsenan will say, \u201cRAS acknowledges and welcomes the efforts of Revenue to tackle smuggling, but the reality is: it\u2019s simply not enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLegitimate retailers cannot compete with criminals reselling illegal products at a fraction of the price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is destroying livelihoods, distorting the market, and undermining public finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTonight, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of next week\u2019s Budget<\/a>, the group is calling for a freeze on the excise on cigarettes \u2013 which is the highest in Europe \u2013 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

September 24, 2025 Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS)\u00a0have launched\u00a0a new website\u00a0to 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-cigarette-smuggling"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":650,"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646\/revisions\/650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}