Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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41. To ask the Minister for Finance to link the petrol excise licence fees to the quantity of fuel sold thereby protecting the viability of smaller rural filling stations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10784/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by Revenue that the requirement that traders dealing in road fuels hold a licence has been in place many years and that an additional requirement for a licence for traders dealing in marked mineral oil was introduced in 2012. This new marked mineral oil licensing requirement was introduced in response to the threat posed to the exchequer and to legitimate business by fuel laundering and is part of a range of supply-chain control measures designed to address this problem. At the time of their introduction there was extensive consultation with industry representatives and they remain very supportive of the measures implemented to tackle fraud and protect compliant business from unfair competition from illicit operators. The measures that I introduced and the action taken by Revenue have been very successful in limiting the availability of marked fuel for laundering and in limiting access to the market for laundered fuel.

The licence fee for an auto-fuel trader's licence and for a marked fuel trader's licence is a flat rate excise duty of €250 in each case. This licence fee is not excessive and is comparable to other excise licence fees. I don't propose to change the licence fee to link it to the quantity of fuel sold.