Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The surveillance of all ports of entry into the State, both regulated and unregulated, is carried out via a multi-agency process. An Garda Síochána, the Revenue, the ports services themselves, the Department of agriculture and many other bodies are involved in this process. As the Cathaoirleach will have noted from the headlines in the media last year, there has been a huge number of seizures of illegal drugs, but also illegal alcohol and illegal cigarettes - some of the largest seizures we have seen in the history of the State. The direct funding is made to the Revenue Commissioners to play their part in that.

I met with the retailers the Cathaoirleach mentioned - all the representative bodies - because prior to taking on this role I was the Minister of State with responsibility for retail, a role similar to that the Cathaoirleach once held. We acknowledge their concerns but funding has continued to increase for Revenue to make sure that it is appropriately and suitably equipped for this. It is something on which we always take a proactive approach to make sure they have all the resources they need in this regard.