Vol. 493 No. 2
121 Mr. P. Carey asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the proposals, if any, he has in relation to the introduction of automatic asset inquiries for certain offences at sentence stage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15347/98]
Under the Criminal Justice Act, 1994, where a person is convicted on indictment, the court can determine whether the offender has benefited from the offence and can make an order confiscating money to the value of any such benefit. This process can at present only be initiated on the application of the DPP. The Criminal Justice (No. 2) Bill, 1997, which is currently before the House, changes this by providing that on conviction for a drug trafficking offence the court will automatically determine whether the offender has benefited from that offence with a view to making a confiscation order. This determination will be made unless the court is satisfied that the amount which might be recovered would not be sufficient to justify the making of a determination.
