Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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128. To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of revenue that has been raised by the carbon tax since its introduction; the number of departmental staff who are tasked with enforcement in this area; the total staffing costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49193/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by Revenue that since its introduction in 2010 to the end of 2016 carbon tax receipts amounted to almost €2.5bn. Provisional figures for receipts for the first 10 months of 2017 amount to just over €350m. Further information on carbon tax receipts is published on the Revenue statistics website at:. This includes a breakdown by commodity since 2010.

With regard to enforcement activities related to carbon tax it is important to note that Revenue is a fully integrated tax and customs administration. I am advised by Revenue that it is not possible to disaggregate the resources deployed exclusively at any given time to the enforcement of carbon tax law. Revenue currently has approximately 2,000 staff countrywide dedicated to targeting and confronting non-compliance. These activities include anti-smuggling and anti-evasion, investigation and prosecution, audit, assurance checks, anti-avoidance, returns compliance and debt collection.