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THERE SHOULD BE tougher penalties for ‘black market’ criminals, Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Justice Niall Collins said today.
He made the comments in the wake of a new report from Retail Ireland on the black market.
The report said retail crime and black markets are costing the Irish government about €861 million a year.
Deputy Collins has accused the Government of having a “casual attitude” towards the country’s black market.
The report shows that Ireland has a very active and profitable black market compared to international standards. This means that we are making it far too easy for criminals to rip off Irish tax-payers.
He said that the current level of convictions for selling counterfeit or stolen goods is simply not enough of a deterrent.
Collins added that he believed criminals “must begin to feel the strong arm of the law”.
At the moment, the average fine imposed for cigarette smuggling [is] €1,600, even though the maximum penalty allowable is €127,000. A zero-tolerance policy in this area would allow the courts to impose the toughest possible penalties, thereby deterring small time criminals from selling illegal cigarettes for quick and easy money.
Irish Cancer Society
Meanwhile, the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation said that “questions need to be asked about the origins of the data used in the report”.
They said that while they welcome Retail Ireland’s call for more resources to be allocated to law enforcement agencies to reduce the availability of illegal tobacco in Ireland, they are calling on Retail Ireland / IBEC to “use credible figures in its reports” and “avoid sensationalising” the subject matter.
Kathleen O’Meara, Head of Advocacy and Communications at the Irish Cancer Society, said:
The Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Finance have found that 14 per cent of cigarettes smoked in Ireland are smuggled into the country. This is an unacceptable level but it is 10 per cent lower than the rate claimed by tobacco industry sources in Retail Ireland’s report. The difference in figures is because Retail Ireland is using data collected by the tobacco industry which has a clear conflict of interest in supplying data of this kind.
She claimed that the tobacco industry “is keen to overstate the rate of smuggling as a high level of illicit trade is used in arguments to reduce the price of tobacco in Ireland”.
This argument is completely disingenuous given that it’s the tobacco industry that raises the price of cigarettes every year, regardless of whether Government does or doesn’t.
The Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation called on the government to reject calls not to increase the price of cigarettes in Budget 2013.
Ireland’s anti-smoking charities also challenged the claim in Retail Ireland’s report that smoking smuggled cigarettes is more dangerous than smoking legal cigarettes.
Chris Macey, Head of Advocacy at the Irish Heart Foundation, commented that “to say that they are somehow a ‘safer’ option is ludicrous”.
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9 of the 12 Irish MEPs supported the position of the Irish Air Line Pilots Association.
Europe has disregarded the advice of its own scientific advisors, and missed out on an opportunity to produce scientifically based rules in favour of commercial interests.
It’s a sad day for aviation safety!
I thought pilots could only fly a maximum of 900 hours per year , why does the above say a reduction from 1300 hours to 1000 hours?
What was advice?
Does this not mean shorter working year for pilots? Good for FTE bad for contract?
Once again those unaccountable pen pushers delve into industries they know nothing about, this is bad for passengers and pilots alike. The winners are arsehole airline management who will award themselves bonuses and politicians creating busywork for themselves. All the scientifically based rest and ftl rules go in the bin.
Pilot can fly for 11 hours, truck driver can only drive a max of 10. Somethings not well thought out.
but in fairness no auto pilot on a truck and only one driver
At least if a truck has an emergency just pull over to the side of the road not the same for aircraft . And some air operations are single pilot.
And a doctor can work for 36 hours.
Commercial airlines have few single pilot. Do ialpa want hours flying even lower … is that why they object?
If you understood what commercial flying is, you would know that all commercial pilots operating with companies with an AOC are bound by JAR-FCL which is the same as airline pilots.
You are correct I don’t know the technical definition of commercial as I don’t work in the industry. But as a layman reading the article my take is that iapla want even further reductions and restrictions on flying time which would require more pilots to run a schedule. No doubt a pay cut isn’t part of their plans. Contract pilots likely to increase at progressive airlines. One layman’s view only.
Have the airline pilots been asked for their opinion on the rule changes and if not why not, judging by their negative reaction it seems not, but now the EU have once again gone ahead and changed the rules without consultation.
So the cost will just go up
What people have to remember regarding pilots hours is they are calculated from off blocks (plane pushed off stand) to on blocks plane arrives at the gate.
You then need to factor in taxi delays ATC flow restrictions,Turn around times of the aircraft and also the pre flight which normally is 1 hour prior to departure+post flight debriefing.
Worst case: try driving your family laden car up rough slippery track into your unlit garage at speed on a dark wet night after 11 hours on the road…
I hope the people that brought this in will be on board when the accident happens, pure madness
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