Mr. Gerard Moran:

In terms of co-operation to tackle fuel fraud, we have extensive co-operation. There is a cross-Border fuel fraud group on which the Revenue Commissioners, the Garda, the Criminal Assets Bureau, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and HM Revenue & Customs, HMRC, are represented. That group works very effectively and has been very effective in helping us and HMRC in Northern Ireland to identify fuel laundries. There is excellent co-operation involving all the law enforcement agencies. At a local level, I am aware that in Mayo and possibly in Roscommon also there is very close co-operation on the ground involving local Revenue officials and the Garda. I understand that is working very effectively.

The Deputy asked if subversive groups are involved. There are organised crime groups and it is my understanding that some of them have their roots in long-standing criminality with a political character to it. There is always a suggestion of dissident involvement. Much of the fuel fraud seems to be centred in the north east of the island in an area spanning the Border. Much of the sludge that has been dumped has tended to be in counties Louth and Monaghan and across the Border in Armagh and County Down.

On the involvement of the fuel fraud groups in petrol stretching, I cannot comment on that yet. As I said earlier, we have not established in fact that this has been a deliberate tax fraud rather than some other kind of contamination, so I would not say it but that is always the risk. As I said at the outset, there is an incentive to engage in some petrol stretching here. What I was pointing out is that it is of a different order to the kind of incentive that applied with regard to diesel laundering.

The Deputy asked about resources and I have touched on that already. We operate within the framework of the resources that are made available to us but we are satisfied that we are able to deal with the risks we face. I gave the example earlier that with the fuel laundering problem we were able to deploy the resources to tackle that and on this occasion we have engaged intensively with this investigation and done a great deal of sampling, and are now investigating through the supply chain and following the paper trail on this.

In terms of a loss to the Exchequer, we do not have that information. Generally, it is very difficult to establish a tax gap in any particular sector because by its nature there is no data. It is all happening in the shadows. Those things are fraught with difficulty so we do not have an estimated cost of petrol stretching, if petrol stretching is occurring

The Deputy mentioned the remedies available to motorists. As regards consumers and citizens, I would have thought of assistance through the Consumers' Association of Ireland or through some civil remedy. I know that groups of motorists affected by this problem have joined together. That might be a helpful way for them to finance this and take a test case or whatever. I am a Revenue official so this is way beyond my sphere of competence, but I understand that is probably what is happening.

Groups like this, of people who have been affected, probably understand the huge impact this has on the individuals and families concerned. By acting collectively, they will have a great deal more power, whether it is in relation to suppliers or insurance companies or whatever. I do not think there is much more I can say on the remedies that are available to them.