The charity’s Chief Executive Michael O’Shea said the increase in the maximum penalty from €12,695 to €126,970 on consignments of contraband will act as a deterrent on smaller scale smuggling gangs who are responsible for a huge percentage of illegal imports into Ireland.

He said: “This is a step in the right direction, but we’ll have to do a lot more if we are going to tackle the major international smuggling networks which are bringing illicit cigarettes into this country on a massive scale.

“In the last three years, the biggest fine imposed on any cigarette smuggler in Ireland was a paltry €7,500 – this was 100 times less than the corresponding figure in Northern Ireland. Whilst a judge in the North imposed a penalty of £729,000 (€811k) in a single case in 2008, the total fines here in 340 cases of tobacco smuggling and the illegal sale of cigarettes in just over three years to last June, were €161,000.”

Mr O’Shea concluded: “The Government has now taken some positive action to curb this menace and we can only hope that judges understand the damage smuggling is doing to the health of the nation by imposing maximum penalties in the most serious cases.”

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