asked the Minister for Finance if any customs personnel in Dundalk or Carrickcarnan are trained in drug detection.

Instruction in drug detection is given to all outdoor grades in the customs and excise as part of their training and all the customs and excise staff engaged on preventive duties in Dundalk and Carrickcarnan have undergone such training.

Has the Minister looked at the possibility of creating a customs unit trained in drug detection for use on Border posts?

All of the staff engaged on preventive duties in Dundalk and Carrickcarnan have been given training. We are keeping the situation under review with a view to ensuring that that training is used in the most effective way.

I take it that at any time there would not be more than ten people at the Carrickcarnan post dealing with traffic going North and South. Will the Minister not accept it is impossible for them to deal with ordinary customs offences, including drug detection, with the limited number of personnel? It is impossible and unreasonable to ask the officers to do this.

I do not accept that.

The Minister must not have been there.

16.

asked the Minister for Finance if sniffer dogs are used at Dublin airport by customs personnel for drug detection; and if these dogs are available for drug detection at the Carrickcarnan Border post.

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that a sniffer dog is being used by customs at various locations, including Dublin airport, for drug detection purposes. This method of combating drug smuggling has not so far been used on the land frontier with Northern Ireland.

The question of acquiring additional sniffer dogs for use at further locations will be examined in the light of the results obtained from using the existing dog.

Has the Minister any concrete evidence of the effectiveness of the use of sniffer dogs at Dublin airport? Will he accept that they are used by customs officials throughout the world for the detection of drugs?

The answer is yes to the latter part of the question. However, I am afraid I cannot give any definitive or authoritative view on the effectiveness of the sniffer dog since the dog was acquired only on 11 February last.