Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The free movement of goods is a fundamental freedom of the Internal Market of the European Union and ensures that goods can move freely across intra-union borders. However, the European Union excise regime which governs the production, processing and holding of excisable products imposes certain restrictions on intra-Union movements of these products. These restrictions impact on the importation of mineral oils for vehicle and household use from Northern Ireland. The EU excise regime governing the movement of excisable products, that is mineral oils, tobacco products and alcohol, does not apply to solid fuels such as coal and, as a result, solid fuel is not subject to cross-Border movement controls typical of other harmonised excises such as mineral oil tax and tobacco tax.

I will deal firstly with the importation from Northern Ireland of mineral oils for use as vehicle and household fuels. Persons bringing mineral oil fuel for vehicles into the State from Northern Ireland must pay excise duty, that is mineral oil tax, on that fuel except where the fuel is present in the fuel tank of a vehicle at the time that vehicle is brought into the State or where the fuel is in a single portable vessel with a capacity of not more than 10 litres that is in that vehicle at the time of coming into the State, and where the proper UK excise duty applicable to the use of that fuel in the vehicle involved has been paid in that jurisdiction.

Persons bringing mineral oil into the State for use other than as road vehicle fuel, for example for heating use or for agricultural tractors or stationary motors, must pay the mineral oil tax on that fuel. In the case of gas oil or kerosene, where a person wishes to pay only the reduced rate applicable to those fuels when intended for use other than as road fuel, the oil must be marked with the fuel markers prescribed by the Revenue Commissioners.

All commercial movements of mineral oil into the State from Northern Ireland are subject to a movement control system.  Movements of duty-suspended mineral oil are subject to an EU-wide electronic system, known as the excise movement control system. In the case of movements of duty-paid oils, such movements may only take place under an equivalent paper-based control method. Where a person intends to sell or deal in mineral oils the appropriate mineral oil trader's licence, issued by the Revenue Commissioners, must be held. Other control measures include obligations on oil traders to provide detailed information on their fuel transactions to Revenue. This allows Revenue to monitor mineral oil supply chains to identify suspicious or anomalous transactions and patterns of distribution for investigation.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

I am satisfied that the current restrictions on the importation of oil for vehicle and household use are comprehensive and support Revenue in tackling any issues regarding the illegal importation of mineral oil.

I will now deal with the importation of solid fuel, and specifically coal, into the State from Northern Ireland. All solid fuel supplied in the State is liable to solid fuel carbon tax. This tax was legislated for in 2010 but its commencement was delayed until 2013 to allow for a mechanism to be put in place to address the risk of coal products with lower environmental standards being sourced from outside the State. Regulations to enable local authorities to regulate and control the type of coal supplied in the State were put in place by the then Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and are now the responsibility of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

As I already explained, EU law does not require compliance with movement controls for solid fuels for excise duty purposes. Therefore, no excise movement controls apply to imports of solid fuel from Northern Ireland, whether by private persons for their own use or by traders or businesses for commercial purposes. Revenue collects solid fuel carbon tax on a self-assessment basis and enforces compliance by way of audit. Excise law does not give Revenue an authority to stop vehicles and physically inspect loads of solid fuel. Similarly, the transport or possession of solid fuel that originated in Northern Ireland are not, in themselves, Revenue offences and Revenue's officers have no authority to challenge such transportation or possession.

See this speech in context