Jimmy Harte (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Smuggling in the Border areas has been going on since the Border was established. Some people have made a lot of money out of it and criminals have used it to enrich themselves. That is still ongoing and will continue until we devise a solution. The thinking behind this is that diesel costs 50 cent per litre less for farmers who do not use the public roads. It is a logical way to look at this. If they are not using the roads, they should not be charged. If there was no dye in the diesel on both sides of the Border, however, this would not happen.

The rebate system should be looked at. I understand from the farmers and the IFA that they would not be keen on this because it might lead to a cashflow problem. The Minister should consider a farmer's previous year's usage of fuel and base it on that. If he spent €5,000 one year, that would be taken as the amount he would use the following year and he would pay a monthly amount based on that. If, however, we brought in a rebate scheme, he would get a monthly grant. At the end of the year he could reconcile the figure and most farmers could be accurate on how diesel they would use. That would take a lot of criminals out of the game. Some farmers would be down a few euro and some would be up a few euro but the genuine farmer would see this as a way forward. It is not just a fly-by-night doing a turn for someone by getting cheap diesel. It is an ecological and criminal problem. If the opportunity exists, these gangs are always ahead of the pack. The Revenue Commissioners only have so many resources and these guys are always thinking ahead. We know who they are and the community is aware who is doing this. With the economy at the moment, people are under stress and in the case of a small haulage company, it might be the difference between surviving and going under if it can get diesel 50 cent cheaper. That is contributing to the problem, however, because it keeps the criminals going.

I ask the Minister to engage with the IFA and the fuel retailers on this. There is a cross-Border element to this so it must be a 32 county solution or we will be back to square one. There is fuel laundering along the Border from Derry to Dundalk and now as far south as Dublin. As Senator Quinn said, there is a massive opportunity for people to make huge profits on a single tanker of diesel.

We should not allow anyone to get away with this. I know of a case in Donegal where the garage owner was convicted but the garage continued to operate and everyone knew where the money was going and where the diesel was being laundered. People thought he had got away with it. Some garages reopen the day after being raided. These people are willing to lose the cost of one day's trading for the massive profits. We do not know how much they have made and the money is probably being laundered by dissident republicans and being put back into drug dealing.

The solution must be tight. We must look at a rebate system that would suit everyone, would give farmers the comfort that they are not out of pocket and make the criminals aware the Government and the Executive in the Six Counties are serious about sorting out the problem.