Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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159. To ask the Minister for Finance if he is satisfied with the current arrangements in place by customs and Revenue for the detection of drugs that have been ingested by passengers prior to their arrival at airports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43854/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that Customs Officers use a range of technologies, indicators and other skillsets to identify drug smugglers, including persons suspected of ingesting controlled drugs. These include the use of detector dog teams, X-ray and other technology on one hand and intelligence development and profiling on the other.

The Commissioners have advised me that they have changed their procedures for dealing with persons suspected of ingesting controlled drugs as a result of two Supreme Court judgements dealing with the right to due process for persons detained. Consequently, Customs Officers are no longer seeking the provision of urine samples on a voluntary basis. No other aspect of the work is impacted by the judgements and Officers are still detecting ingested drugs. Tests involving biological samples have a very high requirement for specialist handling in order to be of value as evidence while protecting the rights of the person concerned. Revenue is satisfied that the present arrangements, which include inter-agency co-operation in appropriate cases, enable good detection rates at a reasonable cost to the taxpayer. They are however continually monitoring the situation and will seek additional powers if they deem this necessary.

Where ingestion of controlled drugs is strongly suspected and cannot be immediately confirmed, there are agreed procedures for the Customs Officer to alert An Garda Siochána, who have extensive detention powers under the provisions of Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996.

As Minister, I am satisfied with the current arrangements and I will support any additional legislation the Commissioners may seek in the fight against drug trafficking.