Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. It is acknowledged that a price differential arises in retail sales of coal between the State and Northern Ireland owing to the lower VAT rate, absence of a carbon tax and much less stringent environmental standards applying to solid fuels in Northern Ireland. Revenue staff have participated in a number of joint operations with local authorities' solid fuel inspection teams, with a view to checking for compliance under several tax headings, and is currently actively engaging with local authorities with a view to participating in future joint operations.

The solid fuel carbon tax is not an import duty and applies when solid is first supplied in the State. Neither the movement of solid fuel in the State nor its storage in the State generate a liability to carbon tax. It is only when solid fuels are first supplied in the State that a solid fuel carbon tax liability arises.

Regarding the Deputy's question on legislation to empower Revenue to prevent smoky coal being brought into the State from Northern Ireland, solid fuels, including all types of coal, as he knows, are not subject to the EU-wide control and movement regime. Under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, a member state may not apply any barriers to the free movement of solid fuel into the State from other member states, including Northern Ireland. Revenue, therefore, cannot prevent smoky coal from entering the State under tax law.

Local authorities, nevertheless, have significant powers under environmental law, namely the new solid fuel regulations, to enforce the legal provisions aimed at preventing the marketing, distribution, sale and use of smoky coal in the State. The Deputy met a delegation of solid fuel merchants. Revenue officials would be happy to meet solid fuel supplier representative bodies and would be particularly interested in gathering any information on suspected tax evasion. They always welcome any information that representative bodies, suppliers or individuals may wish to share confidentially.

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