§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the sums lost to the Revenue as a consequence of the smuggling of (i) petrol and (ii) diesel fuel into Northern Ireland from the Irish Republic in each quarter for each of the last three years and the current year up to 31 March. [82215]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 26 April 1999]: The collection of excise duty is the responsibility of HM Customs and Excise. Customs do not have sufficient reliable information on which to base a published estimate for the revenue lost to the Exchequer through such activity.