Mr. Niall Cody:

I have a report with me concerning a vehicle transporting fuel that was stopped early on 28 May in the area we are talking about. Some 13,500 litres of fuel samples were taken from the vehicle and the results showed there were 85% traces of the new marker. In this case, what was purported to be road diesel was clearly laundered. The vehicle was detained, the yard from which we knew the fuel was sourced was raided and further quantities of fuel were seized.

The fuel involved was originally red diesel and it emanated from the North.

Our officials are active in terms of seizing, stopping and detecting. We have devoted huge resources to tackling the illicit fuel market. We devote significant resources to tackling cigarette smuggling. We are very conscious of the competitive advantage involved. In the context of illicit fuel, part of the problem is that some of it is being used by people who see themselves as legitimate traders. We recently published a list of detections and prosecutions relating to laundered fuel. Among those involved in using such fuel were hauliers. All of this illicit fuel is not sold to motorists. We sample the fuel used by hauliers in their trucks. Standard haulage trucks incorporate two 1,000 litre fuel tanks. There is a significant financial advantage for the owners of such trucks who use laundered fuel and they can undercut legitimate hauliers as a result.