Tax take goes up in smoke

FIVE-and-a-half billion cigarettes are smoked in this country each year, allowing the public purse to draw €1.5bn from the trade.

However, the national consumption estimates dropped by 700m in 12 months. This was because of a reduction in daily smoking habits, particularly among younger people.

Yet despite the revenues earned off the buying habits of smokers, there is a persistently strong black market business undermining the exchequer’s earnings.