Mr. Gerry Harrahill:

There are a couple of things worth saying in that regard. When it came to operations that tried to immerse themselves in legitimate trade flows in order to conceal their activities, the impact of Covid in dramatically reducing trade flows generally in 2020 and 2021 made the job on the customs and law enforcement side easier in terms of identifying patterns of activity that did not fit the norm.

Another element is the ongoing investment by all agencies in developing intelligence. Intelligence has a long gestation. Work that may start on a case or programme today may not come to fruition for two years. We have experience of the result of investment in intelligence gathering being realised in another country. These are cross-border organised crime gangs.

Regarding a detailed breakdown, we can provide a note. We have to do that in the annual report.

The Deputy asked about ports and airports. We conduct inland seizures as well as seizures at ports. The largest seizures tend to be at ports. In conjunction with our colleagues in the Garda, we will always look for the best approach to a seizure. Of their nature, some of these consignments come in in 40 ft containers. We seize the containers as close as possible to the point of importation.