Illegal cigarettes in Galway have doubled in the past year

The prevalence of illicit cigarettes in Galway has doubled in the past twelve months, a nationwide survey has revealed.

The survey of discarded cigarette packets on the streets and in bins in Galway found that 30.7% were non-domestic, meaning they had no Irish duty-paid stamp on them.

The  National Federation of Retail Newsagents admits that some of these packets were brought into the country legitimately by holidaymakers in Spain and other European countries.

The Revenue Commissioners’ figures suggest that about 8% of all packages are legitimately imported in that they were brought in legally by holidaymakers. That still means that over 22% are smuggled, according to the survey, which is still an increase on last year. 

However, Joe Sweeney, President of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) in Ireland, told the Connacht Sentinel that many holidaymakers were importing cigarettes in excess of the numbers they are allowed.

“We know people are bringing more in and selling the cigarettes here to finance their holidays. But the amount of cigarettes being smuggled in by holidaymakers is only a drop in the ocean compared to the big smuggling operations. The figure Revenue tells us, based on airport checks, is that 8% of the non-Irish duty packets of cigarettes are bought and imported legitimately (by holidaymakers),” he said.

Galway was ranked sixth of 22 cities and towns surveyed across the country; and was nearly three points above the national average of 27.9%. The current figure of 30.7% for Galway is a huge surge from the same survey twelve months ago when it was measured at 15.4%.

The survey was undertaken between April and June 2013 by MS Intelligence which specialises in brand and intellectual property protection. The highest incidence of illegal cigarettes in 22 major population centres across the country was found in Drogheda (32.8%), Tallaght (32.8%) and Athlone (32.4%). The lowest was Clonmel (19.6%). The overall figure for Dublin was 27.4%.

The national survey information was gathered through collecting a sample of 5,000 discarded packages from the streets and easy access bins across the country. From the sample, 300 of the discarded packs were collected in Galway.

Mr Sweeney said:  “The huge scale of the illegal cigarette trade in Galway has reached a level where it is destroying local jobs due to the drop in revenue from legal tobacco sales. Retail newsagents’ shops depend heavily on legal tobacco sales to also drive additional purchases. Illegal tobacco sales lead to a loss of footfall which hits other product sales.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel