Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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Question 116: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will consider establishing a multi agency task force involving Customs and Excise, Revenue Commissioners, Gardaí and local authorities to combat the illegal fuel laundering, sale and supply which affects Border counties in particular; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18222/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners, who are responsible for the collection of mineral oil tax and for tackling the illicit trade in fuel products, that they are very conscious of the ongoing threat to the Exchequer posed by the laundering of markers from mineral oil and the onward sale and supply of the laundered product as auto diesel. I wish to inform the Deputy that a multi-agency Cross Border Fuel Fraud Enforcement Group (CBFFEG) was established in 2008 specifically to deal with the illicit trade in mineral oil in the border area. State representatives on this group include the Revenue Commissioners, An Garda Síochana, Criminal Assets Bureau and the Department of the Environment. Our Northern Ireland colleagues include HM Revenue & Customs, UK Border Agency, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Serious Organised Crime Agency and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. A total of twelve meetings of the group have taken place to date with multiple meetings of subgroup members at regular intervals.

Since its inception, this combined force has successfully targeted a number of illegal operators in the border area. In one such cross-border operation on the Monaghan/Armagh border in April 2009, three oil laundering plants, oil laundering equipment, over 100,000 litres of fuel, cash and a number of vehicles were seized. These multi-agency operations are planned to supplement the normal ongoing level of Revenue detection and enforcement strategy.

The Revenue Commissioners also inform me that they employ a broad range of compliance and enforcement strategies and methods to monitor and detect illicit practices involving mineral oils. These include the monitoring and auditing of trade and retail activity, random physical sampling at road checkpoints and intelligence driven operations, using covert surveillance to identify oil laundry locations and their times of activity. The Commissioners are determined to apply all the resources required to counteract this threat to the Exchequer.

In 2010, Revenue Enforcement Officers detected four oil laundering plants and seized a total of 268,000 litres of laundered fuel. Also in 2010, nine retailers were found dealing in laundered oil and eight haulage companies were detected using laundered oil. There were four convictions for other laundering offences. Already in the period January to June of this year, five oil laundry operations have been detected and approximately 140,300 litres of laundered fuel have been seized. Seven retailers and three haulage companies have also been detected in respect of laundered oil offences. In all of these cases, criminal proceedings have been taken or are being considered against individuals where sufficient evidence of involvement has been established.