Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Customs and Excise provides an important service to the country and must be commended on difficult work at times. The safety and the health of our citizens is, in part, dependent on the work it does. There is no doubt the Customs and Excise must be provided with the necessary tools to carry out its work. The third party is included so that there is someone seen to be independent and judicial in its determination on why items are being held. This is not in any effort to limit the ability but simply to ensure that, where abuses happen, there is a safety check for abuses. Within the best organisations, abuse happens and this is a method to ensure it does not happen.