asked the Minister for Finance if he will authorise the Revenue Commissioners to abandon the practice of charging a fee of 2/- for each motor vehicle which passes through a customs post between 9 p.m. and midnight where such posts are now normally open until the latter hour and the special attendance of a customs officer is not therefore necessary.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Customs Fee on Motor Vehicle.
The provision of staff at frontier posts after 9 p.m. involves the State in considerable expense and, in the circumstances, I regret that I cannot accede to the Deputy's request.
Would the Minister consider this matter as this fee is a handicap to the tourist industry and particularly in regard to people interested in that industry within a short distance of the Border? It is not the amount of the fee which is the trouble but the nuisance it constitutes.
As the Deputy is aware, the amount of the fee is very small, indeed, but the cumulative total to the revenue is quite substantial.
Could the Minister say what the figure is?
Somewhere about £20,000.
Is the Minister aware that the question refers to customs posts where the staff are already kept on until a late hour?
Quite, but the staff would have to be kept on and paid for being in attendance at that hour.