Retailers have said cigarette smuggling and the sale of illegal cigarettes is costing the State €420m in lost excise duty.
William Hanley of Retailers Against Smuggling said that thousands of retailers are affected by this problem.
Speaking at an Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, Mr Hanley said that 700 jobs were lost as a result of the loss of cigarettes sales.
He said one in every four cigarettes consumed in Ireland has no duty paid on it.
Benny Gilsenan of RAS told the committee that it was not calling on the Government to reduce the excise on cigarettes.
However, Mr Gilsenan said what was needed was an increase in policing on the industry and a set minimum fine on sellers.
He said the cigarette smuggling is an industry growing on a daily basis and run by sophisticated criminals.
Mr Gilsenan said they see an opportunity to make huge revenue for themselves because they can sell the cigarettes at a third of the price of what retailers sell them.
