The Revenue Commissioners inform me that there are 2,139 qualifying road transport operators currently availing of the diesel rebate scheme. The total amount repaid to date for 2013 and 2014 is €0.7m and €22.7m, respectively.
To qualify for the repayment, a road transport operator must comply with certain requirements and conditions of the scheme. These requirements are designed to protect the scheme from abuse and restrict its application to legitimate operators. I am satisfied that the current arrangements reflect an appropriate balance between the need to process claims efficiently while controlling effectively the risk of fraudulent claims and I have no plans to change them.