Ireland’s cigarette black market contributed to a a decline in PJ Carroll & Company’s pre-tax profits, the company has revealed.

The Irish Independent reports that the company saw a sharp drop in profits, from €215.3m to €205.63m.

“The black market remains a huge challenge facing the business,” the company said in a statement. Despite this, it lauded the efforts of the Gardaí and the Revenue for their efforts in combatting the trade in illicit products.

The black market in Ireland is thriving, partially due to the repeated hikes in excise introduced by the Government in Budget 2016 and Budget 2017.

As the old saying goes, prohibition does not work; neither does skyrocketing prices of cigarettes prevent consumers from smoking. What it does, however, is drive those consumers into the illegal market where they are using counterfeit products containing who knows what, as well as taking vital receipts away from the Revenue, some of which is contributed toward department of health initiatives that actually do help smokers kick the habit – unlike cynical and exploitative annual price hikes of 50c.

With plain packaging about to become a reality, the PJ Carroll’s directors cite this as a further risk facing the company, and one which will make smuggling and counterfeit cigarettes even more profitable.