A Kilkenny retailer has warned that the easy availability of illegal cigarettes has caused hundreds of job losses in the retail sector this year.
Kevin Browne, who owns the Happy Times store in Market Cross shopping centre in Kilkenny, said the retail sector had lost close to 700 jobs over the past 12 months.
Mr Browne, who sits on the Executive Council of Retailers Against Smuggling, a national retail organisation set up to combat the illicit trade, said the problem was getting worse across Leinster.
Referring to a survey carried out recently by Retailers Against Smuggling of its 3,000 retail members, Mr Browne said 78 per cent of surveyed retailers in the Leinster area felt that the illegal trade had increased in the past year.
72 per cent of Leinster retailers also said that illegal cigarettes were now widely available in their communities.
These figures are considerably higher than the national average in the survey, with 59 per cent of retailers claiming that the illicit tobacco problem was getting worse and 69 per cent claiming that illegal cigarettes were readily available in their area.
“It is clear from the survey that the problem with illegal cigarettes is getting much worse in Leinster than elsewhere,” Mr Browne said.
“It’s getting easier and easier to buy them at markets and on every street corner, and they are also being sold freely door-to-door in estates,” he added.
Mr Browne said that most Leinster retailers agreed with his assessment, with the recent survey identifying markets and door-to-door as the main places where consumers in Leinster purchase illegal cigarettes.
He added that Retailers Against Smuggling had called on Minister for Finance Michael Noonan to introduce a minimum fine for cigarette smuggling and not to raise excise on cigarettes in the forthcoming budget.
“We feel that a minimum fine would deter cigarette smugglers and the Minister has already said any increase in excise will push consumers towards the illegal trade. We are calling on him again to make sure that there is no price rise in the forthcoming budget and to protect retail jobs both in Kilkenny and nationally,” Mr Browne said.