Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 73: To ask the Minister for Finance if he is satisfied regarding the level of supervision exercised by the Revenue Commissioners at points of entry, especially in regard to continued concern in relation to the drugs problem and particularly the smuggling of cocaine; if his attention has been drawn to the number of flights that arrive at both Cork and Shannon Airports at times when there are no customs officers on duty; if he will ask the Revenue Commissioners to ensure cover at all times that flights arrive at these airports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19293/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I have been advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they are satisfied with the levels of supervision exercised by customs officers at points of entry into the State. In relation to drugs smuggling through airports, in the five years to 2005 customs officers made 3,428 drugs seizures, with a street value of approximately €23 million, in Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports. As regards cocaine, there has been a steady increase in the number and volume of cocaine seizures at airports — mainly at Dublin airport, but also, more recently, in 2005, at Cork airport.

On the 30th of March 2006, I responded in some detail to Parliamentary Question No. 41 asked by Deputy Higgins on flight arrivals into Cork and Shannon Airports at times when there are no customs officers on duty. As advised in my reply, the Revenue Commissioners ended 24 hour rostered coverage in Cork in 2002 and Shannon in 2005, in both cases the reason was the low number of night-time flights. Cork Airport is closed between 11.30 p.m. and 5.30 a.m. and Shannon Airport handles no flights between 1.30 a.m. and 5.30 a.m.

However, the Revenue Commissioners have advised me that they have a number of "on-call" non-rostered customs officers available to attend at both Cork and Shannon airports. These "on-call" officers provide flexibility of attendance and are available 24 hours, seven days per week. They can and do attend during hours when rostered officers are not in attendance, including on early morning flights from US airports when required, as dictated by risk profiling.

The Deputy might wish to note that Cork Airport has no non-EU flights outside of normal hours of attendance of customs officials. For EU flights, customs officers may only stop and question people where there are reasonable grounds for suspicion. Almost all night-time flights originating in non-EU countries were met and checked by Revenue's 24-hour specialist staff in 2005.