An organisation representing solid fuel merchant in Ireland has called for Government action to stem smuggling of coal into the country.
Solid Fuel Merchants Ireland (SFMI) claims coal worth €56m is illegally brought into Ireland from Northern Ireland and sold here every year.
The body has called for additional enforcement measures to deal with the those selling the product.
In the north, VAT is charged at a lower rate than it is here and there is also no carbon tax in place.
This allows some sellers here to sell the illegally imported coal at a lower rate than law abiding suppliers here.
Chairperson Colin Ahern says the cheaper cost of illegal coal causes legitimate business to suffer:
[audio mp3="https://img.oceanfm.ie/prod/uploads/2023/04/CoalforWeb.mp3"][/audio]
