asked the Minister for Finance if the investigation into the recent discovery of bogus vodka on sale in public houses has yet been completed; the total number of licensed premises on which the bogus vodka was discovered to have been on sale; and the checks which are routinely carried out by his Department to prevent abuses of this nature.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Bogus Vodka.
7.
It is presumed that what the Deputy has in mind is the recent investigation carried out by the Customs and Excise service following the discovery of a filtration plant used to recover spirits from a veterinary preparation. I understand that the Customs and Excise investigation has now been completed and that reports are in the course of preparation by the officers concerned and will shortly be submitted to the Revenue Commissioners. In the course of the inquiry seizures of spirits were made at a total of 108 licensed premises. The stocks of spirits in licensed premises are routinely examined by officers of Customs and Excise under the provisions of revenue law in search of illicit or smuggled merchandise.
Will the Minister confirm that the Customs and Excise officers were actually looking for smuggled spirits and were not expecting to find bogus spirits? Now that this has been revealed, are there any new procedures or routine checks to ensure that bogus spirits of various kinds are not on sale? One hundred and eight licensed premises were found to have these bogus spirits in stock. The Minister will agree that these are highly dangerous to health and they were described by the managing director of Caldon Chemicals, who make vetichol, as an illicit and potentially harmful product. What action, including removal of licence, does the Minister intend to take against the 108 premises who stocked this dangerous substance?
The investigation is almost complete and the report is ready for submission to the Revenue Commissioners. It will then be decided what action, if any, will be taken. Regarding the first part of the Deputy's question, I suppose the Revenue Commissioners knew that more spirits were being sold through these premises than were being taken out of bond and that they, therefore, carried out this investigation. Arising from these routine investigations they made this discovery and they deserve full credit. I have already said that the stocks of spirits in licensed premises are routinely examined by officers of Customs and Excise under the provisions of revenue law in search of illicit or smuggled merchandise. That will continue.
Would the Minister agree that there is some case to be made for changing the manner of prosecution of revenue offences by taking this matter from the Revenue Commissioners and giving it to a special department in the DPP's office? The slowness of investigation and prosecution of revenue offences leaves something to be desired. Does the Minister agree that it should be examined?
That is a separate question.
Were the premises concerned located in a particular region or throughout the country?
I do not have the specific information but I recall from a similar question that they were mainly in Cork, with some in Dublin.