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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 4 Jul 1996

Vol. 468 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Customs Officer Appointment.

I thank the Minister of State Deputy Eithne Fitzgerald, for her attendance this afternoon. My case is all the more urgent in the wake of the recent horrific murders of Detective Garda McCabe and Veronica Guerin. This crisis has been addressed by many Members of the House in respect of which the Government has announced an agreed package of measures to be introduced promptly.

In the past 18 months I have raised the matter of our growing drugs problem, more specifically the importation of illicit substances through our south western ports. I cited instances based on my knowledge of local people, in addition to the very substantial importation of drugs through Castletownbere Harbour, which were seized at Urlingford, and highlighted in the media.

I and many others know that major drugs barons have taken up residence in the south west. As is the case in Dublin, they are well known to locals. Despite having been a Member of this House for some decades, in my innocence, I assumed the Government was serious in tackling this problem. As we are aware, our south west coast is one of the busiest shipping traffic lanes in Europe, Castletownbere being the busiest port in the south west, a designated major fisheries port which in addition accommodates pleasure craft. There was one customs officer there but the Rainbow Coalition closed that office last year following which a major shipment of drugs came through that port.

We are an island nation, and drugs are imported by sea, yet it appears we give these drug barons all the assistance they need by not having any Customs presence in Castletownbere.

As a gesture, the authorities said, and the Minister for Finance told me, during the peak fishing season they would allow that office be open but at other times it would be serviced from Bantry. Anybody who knows the geography of the south west will know that it takes one hour to drive from Bantry to Castletownbere, which means that to service that port from Bantry is ludicrous.

On Tuesday last I was informed that the assignment of a full-time officer of Customs and Excise is authorised in the peak period. That is an absolute disgrace, an insult to those who expect to be protected by our authorities.

I call on the Government, the Minister for Finance, and the Minister for Justice to ensure that people can walk the streets, drive around Castletownbere or any other town or city without the menace created by drugs. There is only one route by which drugs can be imported here, through our ports. The closure of a Customs post manned by one officer would appear to indicate the Government is not serious about tackling the problem but is merely paying lip service to it. If the Government was even half serious about it, it would agree that we need a full-time static presence in places like Castletownbere. We are serious about this matter, and to that end we want to ensure full protection and surveillance. For the Government to say it will take this in hand in due course is not good enough. Today, I hope for the last time, I call on the Government to assign officers of the Customs and Excise service to Castletownbere on a full-time basis to prevent the smuggling of illicit and illegal drug substances through the south-west coast, particularly through Castletownbere.

I am here on behalf of the Minister for Finance who cannot be present. This issue has been raised by the Deputy on many occasions and responded to comprehensively. Parliamentary questions were answered on the subject in September 1995, May 1996 and as recently as 2 July 1996. The position remains as outlined previously.

The Revenue Commissioners, who are responsible for the management of the Customs Service and the deployment of Customs staff, are satisfied that the most effective means of providing a customs service in the Bantry BayBeara Peninsula area is to have staff centralised in and operating from Bantry, and deployed on a flexible basis to various locations, including Castletownbere, as required, to meet the needs of the work.

The Minister has been informed by the commissioners they cannot accept that a sufficient volume of work exists to warrant the full-time attendance of an officer of Customs and Excise in Castletownbere. In recognition of the large concentration of fishing vessels at the port at certain times of the year, however, the full-time assignment of an officer is authorised during the peak period and, in fact, an officer was in full-time attendance there over three months this year. As to the off-peak season, a customs service is, as indicated, provided by means of the deployment of staff from Bantry.

As to the question of illegal imports, including drug smuggling, the commissioners are fully alert to the dangers of such trafficking along the coastline, including through ports in the south-west. Experience has shown that intelligence gathering and surveillance, rather than a static presence, are the best means of combating this activity.

The commissioners have made a substantial commitment in terms of staff and other resources to the Customs National Drugs Team. Sixteen members of the team are based in Cork to staff operational, intelligence, maritime and sniffer-dog units. Intelligence units, each comprising two full-time members of the team, are also based in Bantry and Tralee and are supervised by two higher executive officers, who become involved in drug-related work as necessary. All units are mobile and employ the most modern means of communication and have access to aerial and sea surveillance. Specialist CNDT officers in the Cork and Kerry region can call on assistance, where the need arises, of other Customs and Excise staff.

The Customs Service has also enlisted the assistance of the business community engaged in the import-export trade in fighting smuggling and in particular drug smuggling through the Memorandum of Understanding Programme as well as the general public through the Drugs Watch Programme, which encourages coastal communities and maritime personnel to report unusual occurrences in their areas to Customs and Excise by Freefone or Freepost.

In the circumstances, the Minister is satisfied that the present measures taken by Customs and Excise, in co-operation with the other enforcement agencies concerned, provide adequate protection against the illegal importation of drugs and other sensitive goods along the south-west coast, and that the provision of a static Customs presence in Castletownbere would not enhance these measures. The deployment of resources is, of course, kept under review.

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