Northern Ireland Questions - Fuel Smuggling

Northern Ireland

26-Mar-2008

Mr. Michael Moore (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (LD): Whether or not the situation is getting worse, the Minister is right to say that it is very serious. Will he give the House an assurance that he is satisfied that the cross-border arrangements are working satisfactorily? Given that some of the worsening situation seems to have been attributed to the merger of Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue a couple of years ago, will he assure us that the proposed merger between the Assets Recovery Agency and SOCA will not lead to a further problem in this area?

The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Paul Goggins): I warmly welcome the hon. Gentleman to his new position as his party’s spokesman on Northern Ireland. I look forward to constructive exchanges with him. I assure him that cross-border co-operation on law enforcement is a high priority. Indeed, we are considering including representation in the working group of the Organised Crime Task Force that deals with such issues from the Criminal Assets Bureau, which is based in the Republic of Ireland, and from the Irish Revenue commissioners, who are the equivalent of HMRC. We seek to bring the forces of law and order together.

I repeat the assurances that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan). From next month, the Assets Recovery Agency and SOCA will be merged. In my view, that will toughen up our attack line on organised crime rather than diminish it. It will combine the intelligence brought by SOCA with the practical hands-on experience of asset recovery work brought by the Assets Recovery Agency. The combined agency will be even more effective.

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