Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming here today. Diesel laundering is a crime because it is the same as taking money out of someone’s pocket because the revenue does not go to the State. It goes to crooks. Petrol stretching has caught the public imagination because it is a particularly nasty crime. We learned this morning that the profit margin is small but it puts considerable cost and inconvenience onto the public. It is quite obvious that these people do not care about that.

The only way I can put myself into the shoes of a forecourt manager is when I think about the central heating oil at home. I deal with one supplier, one distributor with the same driver for the past several years and I trust that chain. It has never let me down. Something in the chain has broken until the customer puts the hose into the tank. Do we need to consider registration, licensing conditions, the checks and balances from supplier to distributor to the forecourt? Are they tight enough? There seem to be weaknesses there.

I was surprised to hear that 130 stations have closed. How many of those closed because of diesel or petrol contamination? Does that figure include people who could not pay their taxes because they did not have enough income? What is the breakdown of those numbers? If some were people who were proved to have contaminated diesel or petrol were they convicted? Did any of them go to jail? Can they open up another filling station or the same one again? What are the sanctions for those people?

There was a programme about this on radio two or three weeks ago. A spokesperson for the Revenue Commissioners gave the impression that their job is to ensure the income for the State and engine damage is not their business. It was not a well thought out message. That made people very angry. Whenever a spokesperson for the Revenue Commissioners speaks on this he or she should also speak about the avenues open to the people whose engines are damaged.

Does the committee need to talk to an insurance regulator or financial services ombudsman?