Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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81. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide the conditions required to be fulfilled by an applicant before a petrol and diesel retailing licence will be issued; if the retailer is required to have public liability insurance covering the sale of contaminated fuel; if it is possible for a member of the public to lodge an objection to the renewal of such a licence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9685/15]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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82. To ask the Minister for Finance further to comments by the Minister of State, Deputy Harris, on Report Stage of the Finance Bill 2014 on 26 November 2014, if he will confirm that the Revenue Commissioners are now using their powers under section 101(7) of the Act to apply the same reporting conditions for petrol as currently apply for diesel; when this became operational; the number of discrepancies identified to date that have required further investigation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9686/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 81 and 82 together.

An auto fuel trader's licence and/or a marked fuel trader's licence must be held by each person dealing in mineral oils and marked mineral oils and for each premises or filling station used for that purpose. These licences are issued by the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with the requirements laid down under Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Finance Act 1999.  In order to obtain a licence, an applicant must satisfy the following requirements.

- The applicant must hold a tax clearance certificate, must not have been convicted of an indictable offence under section 1078 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (or of a corresponding offence under the law of another Member State) and must be compliant with excise law in relation to the production, delivery or sale of mineral oils, including the statutory requirements relating to the systems (including the measuring systems) and procedures of the business to which the licence relates.

- The applicant must, when requested to do so by the Commissioners, be able to show to their satisfaction that he or she is able to comply with the licence conditions as specified by them. These include, inter alia, the suitability and security of the premises to be licensed, access by Revenue officers, the use of fuel pumps and meters that accurately measure and record the volume of fuel dispensed and other conditions that the Commissioners may impose.

- The applicant must, when required by the Commissioners, show to their satisfaction that the business to be licensed is for the sole benefit of the applicant, is undertaken with the intent of realising profits from legitimate trade in mineral oils and the systems and procedures of the business to be licensed will provide a full and true account of all the mineral oil transactions of the business, in a form readily accessible to the Commissioners.

As part of their licensing conditions, mineral oil traders must provide a monthly report to Revenue of all their mineral oil transactions by fuel type.  The Commissioners advise me that the report from any particular trader must show the fuel receipts and deliveries in the month concerned between that trader and each other mineral oil trader with whom they are trading, together with additional information on all sales of a volume greater than 2000 litres.  Forecourt sales of fuel are reported in the aggregate by type for the month.

The purpose of these licensing conditions is to control the supply chain for mineral oils. Public liability insurance is not relevant to this objective and is not provided for as a licensing requirement. The licenses are renewed annually and may be revoked under certain circumstances. The Revenue Commissioners inform me that they encourage any person who has evidence of non-compliance by a mineral oil trader with the conditions of his or her licence to report the matter to them as soon as possible. 

I am also advised by the Commissioners that the monthly return of mineral oil movement due from each licensed mineral oil trader must report transactions for each fuel type, including petrol. The report shows the total monthly amount of fuel by type received and delivered between the licensed mineral oil trader and each other licensed trader. In view of the key focus on the risk of diesel laundering, the report for diesel also shows the individual receipts and deliveries making up this monthly transaction figure.  However, the information in the monthly report allows Revenue to identify suspicious movements of any fuel type, including petrol, and Revenue has the technical capacity to analyse effectively the petrol movements reported.  The mineral oil trader must, in any case, hold information on all individual fuel transactions, including petrol transactions, and this can be examined by Revenue, as required.  

The Revenue Commissioners inform me that they are examining the costs and benefits of extending the more detailed level of reporting in place in relation to diesel to petrol also.  Because of the volume of transactions involved, such a development would require a significant enhancement of Revenue's existing system as well as developments in the systems used by mineral oil traders.  When the Revenue Commissioners have completed their evaluation, I will let the Deputy know the outcome.