Mr. Gerard Moran:

I note what the Deputy has said about the geographical distribution of this problem. We are tracking it. I mentioned that it is centred on, or concentrated in, counties Mayo and Roscommon. Obviously, it spreads out a bit further than that. The other sort of geographical concentration seems to be centred on the Meath area. That extends beyond Meath as well. We are tracking every instance of a complaint being made about a filling station, and the number of complaints made about it.

The Deputy also asked about reporting to us. We are always eager to get any information about any irregular activity. People can access us through our website or by contacting their local Revenue office. We are really eager to get reports of odd-looking deliveries like that alluded to by the Deputy. If an unmarked or odd-looking vehicle pulls into a filling station, we can cross-check that kind of activity against the supply chain returns that traders are required to make on a monthly basis. We are eager to receive any reports like that. If such reports are made at public meetings attended by Deputy McEntee or any other member of the committee, we would be grateful if they could encourage people to contact us. We have a freefone number that people can contact us on.

The Deputy asked what we need to take prosecutions. If a forecourt retailer is selling stretched petrol, or green diesel in road diesel, it is an offence. When we are looking for sufficient evidence on which to prosecute them, our initial efforts focus on testing the samples. We will seek to prosecute any retailer who has adulterated fuel. It is a cut and dried prosecution as far as we are concerned. We will seek to do that. I think that really puts an onus on retailers to exercise care about where they source their fuel from. We examine these cases on a case-by case basis. If we find a supplier with contaminated fuel as we work our way back up the supply chain, our policy is to prosecute him or her. That is what we will do. If we do not find what we are looking for at that stage - part of the difficulty of investigating this is that the fuel might have disappeared - we look for evidence of how the supplier has conducted his or her business. If we can establish evidence of fraudulent activity on the basis of documentation - the bank records and all the other records of the business - we can prosecute on that basis. As the committee will appreciate, we have to come up with evidence before we can do that. Ultimately, the Director of Public Prosecutions will determine whether our investigation has produced sufficient evidence to sustain a prosecution.

The Deputy's question about Revenue's relationship with the Irish Petrol Retailers Association gives me an opportunity to emphasise that we have had great co-operation from the industry, including the association in question, throughout the process of tackling the broader problem of fuel fraud we have been experiencing over several years. We would be delighted to meet representatives of the association to discuss its plans for further measures to assure the integrity of its members' operations and the quality of the supply chain in general.