Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I appreciate the point about the reallocation of resources. To a certain extent, the difficulty is that the horse has bolted. This happened in May and June. The Minister of State says that fuel delivery tankers are challenged when encountered. How many times has this happened? Is there a plan in place or is it just when enforcement officers come across a tanker while driving around? How many encounters have we had throughout the summer?

Specific retailers have been named to the Garda Síochána and the Customs and Excise. Has traceability from the retailer to the wholesaler been initiated? Has analysis of the traceability been initiated to get back to the source? If the retailers are abiding by the law, they must have detailed records of where they buy fuel.

With regard to compensation, those with third-party insurance are left without anything through no fault of their own. It is not as if they went out and caused an accident. People with fully comprehensive insurance will pay the price through a much increased premium next year for having had to make a claim through no fault of their own. I cannot bring home the level of frustration and anger felt by people who feel the system has completely let them down. They are involved in this through no fault of their own, which I emphasise.

All they did was buy a tank of fuel, as we all do every day. They went to the same retailer as always, as we do every day as well. These people are being put through the mill. As an example, a 78-year-old lady used her car for shopping, socialising and going to mass but her daughter had to move home from England to facilitate these activities using a rented car because they are not in a position to make the necessary repairs to the car. That is typical of hundreds of people put in this position. I ask the Minister of State to give this absolute priority. The pressure should come from him and from the Minister for Justice and Equality so that somebody can be held to account and those who are suffering can be compensated.

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