Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for outlining the main sections of the Bill and presenting it in the House. My party supports the passage of this Bill. It is mainly a technical Bill to bring legislation, some of it dating back to 1876, up to date. In particular, the two subsections relating to the forfeiture of goods in cases where duty is not paid and the confiscation of goods are important. I pay tribute to the work of customs and Revenue, in particular the customs enforcement teams. We must continue to resource them appropriately, with adequate facilities and legislation to back them up in their job.Designating areas for planes and boats and for cargo to be offloaded, as well as searched, is important. Our criminal gangs are becoming more sophisticated and are operating internationally. With that in mind, it is important the Government and the Oireachtas support the work customs does every day. Many times this House, as well as the other House, has discussed fuel laundering and alcohol and tobacco smuggling, activities in which the State loses hundreds of millions of euro of revenue. People need to understand that by participating in this, they are effectively taking money away from the State that could be used for important services such as health and the Garda while lining the pockets of criminals. People should not support the black market in any way, shape or form, particularly in purchasing white goods, tobacco, alcohol and fuel.

The Minister of State outlined the record of our customs teams against international standards. How well they have performed against those international benchmarks shows what a good job they are doing. Fianna Fáil supports this Bill and looks forward to going into it in more detail on Committee Stage.