Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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257. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide a schedule in respect of the number of instances in which the Revenue Commissioners placed tracking devices on vehicles as part of investigations into smuggling; whether these trackers left the jurisdiction, and on how many occasions per tracker, in the past ten years to date; the jurisdictions in which the tracker visited, and whether it returned to this State; and the value of items intercepted and or seized as a result of these surveillance engagements, in tabular form. [43234/24]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I am advised by Revenue that the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009 authorises a small number of public bodies, including Revenue, to undertake surveillance of persons, places or vehicles using surveillance devices.

It provides that Revenue’s powers under the Act may be used in respect of a Revenue offence, that is an arrestable offence, under section 14 of the Customs Act 2015; section 1078 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997; section 102 of the Finance Act 1999; section 119 of the Finance Act 2001; section 79 of the Finance Act 2003 (inserted by section 62 of the Finance Act 2005); or section 78 of the Finance Act 2005. Examples of Revenue offences include tax or duty evasion, fuel fraud, supply or sale of illicit tobacco products, drug and cigarette/tobacco smuggling.

Because of the intrusive nature of the powers which it confers, the Act delimits clearly the circumstances in which they may be used and lays down the authorisations and approvals which must be obtained before they may be utilised. I know that Revenue is committed to ensuring that the powers conferred by the Act are used only in appropriate circumstances and in full conformity with the provisions and requirements of the Act.

Tracking device means a surveillance device that is used only for the purpose of providing information regarding the location of a person, vehicle or thing. The table below provides a breakdown of the total number of tracking devices deployed by Revenue in accordance with the provisions of section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009 over the last 10 years, including those deployed on vehicles.

I am advised that, during this period, 7 tracking devices either did not return to this jurisdiction or could not be retrieved for other operational reasons. In all instances, tracking and monitoring of such devices only takes place within the State.

Section 9 of the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009 provides that documents obtained as a result of tracking devices used under the Act can only be retained for the later of three years after the end of monitoring and when they are no longer required for any prosecution or appeal to which they are relevant. In addition, section 13 of the Act prohibits the disclosure of any information in connection with the operation of the Act, unless the disclosure is to an authorised person for specified purposes. As a result, I am advised by Revenue that it cannot provide the additional details requested by Deputy Murphy.

It should be noted that the deployment of tracking devices in accordance with the provisions of the Act is not always directly linked to a seizure during the period of deployment and can be used for intelligence purposes as part of Revenue’s operations or investigations concerning arrestable Revenue offences, in strict accordance with the provisions of the Act.

Revenue’s operation of the Act is overseen by a High Court Judge designated by the Government. The designated Judge has access to all official documents or records associated with authorisations under this Act. The Judge ascertains whether Revenue and other agencies are complying with the provisions of the Act and reports annually to the Taoiseach on any matters that are considered relevant.