This Bill, together with the Criminal Assets Bureau Bill, provide for a fresh approach to the investigation of crime in Ireland. The individual agencies cannot tackle the problems alone; a new mechanism was needed to bring them together and these two Bills provide that mechanism. The Bill before the House today will facilitate immediate co-operation between the Garda, the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Welfare. That co-operation will be put on a statutory basis when the Criminal Assets Bureau Bill is passed in the autumn.
The fight against organised crime has three main elements: a well organised level of law enforcement with harsher penalties and more prison spaces, a serious attack on the assets of criminals and action on the demand side. This Bill is concerned with the second of these elements.
Before dealing with the details of the Bill, I want to say something about the first element. The appointment of a new Garda Commissioner and the review body on the Garda should ensure that there is a fresh approach and a new impetus to the fight against crime. The Garda obviously has the pivotal role in fighting crime so it is essential that it is well managed, well motivated and have the confidence of the public. I believe that the new commissioner has the opportunity to ensure this and I wish him well in his new appointment.
In the fight against crime, the new Bills brought forward by the Government will ensure co-operation among certain agencies. Other State agencies, for example, the judges and the courts system, also have a duty to act in the best interests of the community and in co-operation with the Executive.
The Criminal Justice Act, 1994, and certain provisions in the Bill before us today enable the Minister for Justice to bring professional advisers into the remit of existing money laundering legislation. I believe that professional advisers have a duty to the community to ensure that they do not facilitate criminals in their activities. Last year we had the not particularly edifying spectacle of the Government being castigated for attempting to ensure that professional bodies did not facilitate tax evasion. Speaking as an accountant, I have no difficulty with a requirment that professional advisers must not faciltate law breaking.
If we are to be serious about tackling organised crime, it is time to take the gloves off against the racketeers' attempts to hide behind accountants and lawyers in their financial transactions. The relationship of privilege is important in the context of legal proceedings and this Bill provides for protecting this privilege.
One of the steps which the Government took to counter major organised crime, particularly in the drugs area, was to set up a special group to examine ways of targeting the assets and proceeds of criminal activities. This group was chaired by the Department of Justice and comprised representatives of the Garda Síochána, the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Finance and the Department of Social Welfare. The group made a number of proposals aimed at improving co-operation between State agencies in their fight against organised crime and to remove any obstacles which would hinder their efforts in tracking and targeting the assets of criminals.
The group put forward a series of measures to allow for freer proactive exchanges of information between Revenue and the Garda Síochána in the case of suspect assets and activities than is allowed by law. Changes were also recommended to secure the anonymity, and thereby the personal safety, of Revenue officials in pursuing tax assessments of suspected persons, and to allow for the use by Revenue of Garda intelligence information in making tax assessments without disclosure of the source of this information, unless authorised by a senior Garda officer. The group also recommended a number of amendments to the Criminal Justice Act, 1994.
The purpose of this Bill is to implement the important and necessary legal changes recommended by the working group and thus clear the way for closer and more concerted co-operation between the State agencies in the fight against organised crime. The implementation of these measures will form a useful part of, and has to be seen in the context of, the overall action we are taking.
As part of this it is necessary to amend and extend the Criminal Justice Act, 1994. There is a doubt whether information or material obtained under the money laundering provisions of that Act could be used by the Garda Síochána and Revenue in relation to other criminal offences or Revenue offences. The money laundering provisions of the Act were passed specifically to meet the obligations of an EU directive. The directive itself, however, permits the use of money laundering information or material in the investigation and prosecution of other offences provided specific legal provision is made to do so. This Bill includes a suitable amendment to the 1994 Act to allow for the wider use of money laundering information.
The 1994 Act already makes provision regarding applications to the courts by the Garda Síochána for search warrants for purposes related to drug trafficking and related offences. Under existing law the warrant may be issued to "a specific member of the Garda Síochána, accompanied by such other members of the Garda Síochána as the member thinks necessary". In the context of the proposed attack on criminal assets it would clearly be desirable that the warrant should allow for any non-Garda person working in or with the proposed Criminal Assets Bureau, including Revenue and social welfare officials, to take part in the search. A suitable amendment to the 1994 Act has been included in this Bill. Further, the Bill also makes certain changes, which I will outline later, to the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1879, relating to access by the gardaí to the books and records of all relevant financial institutions.
I will turn now to the individual sections of the Bill. The first four sections amend the Criminal Justice Act, 1994. Section 1 inserts a new section into the Criminal Justice Act, 1994. This new section allows Revenue to provide information to a garda not below the rank of Chief Superintendent or to a body set up under statute or by the Government to target the assets of criminals. To release information the Revenue Commissioners must have reasonable grounds for suspecting that the information relates to a person who has derived profits from an unlawful source or activity and that the information will assist in a relevant investigation. This provision will allow for exchange of information without requiring a court order and, at the same time, provides reassurance for ordinary law abiding taxpayers. The section maintains existing safeguards for information received by the Revenue Commissioners from another State under a double taxation treaty.
Section 2 amends section 32 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1994, in two respects. First, it ensures that documents and materials concerning the identification of customers and transactions are retained by the designated bodies for use as evidence into any offence and not solely money laundering offences as provided for at present. Second, it inserts a new subsection to enable the Minister for Justice, in prescribing a designated body by order under that section, to exempt that body from certain of the obligations generally imposed on designated bodies by the 1994 Act. This will basically allow any such order to deal with the issue of legal professional privilege where an order is made extending to solicitors, for example, the obligation to report money laundering.
Section 3, which is related to section 2, amends section 57 of the 1994 Act to permit information reported under that section to the Garda Síochána to be used not only in any investigation concerning money laundering but for an investigation into any other offence. The working group considered the question of extending the list of bodies and professions to which sections 32 and 57 of the 1994 Act dealing with money laundering apply. The group, and indeed the Government, acknowledge that the overwhelming majority of the members of these professions are law abiding people who would be horrified if they thought they were involved in laundering the proceeds of crime. Nevertheless, the group was firmly of the view that the extension of the money laundering reporting requirements in this way would be of considerable assistance in the fight against organised crime.
The Government has decided, therefore, that the reporting requirements of the money laundering provisions of sections 32 and 57 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1994, should be extended to solicitors, accountants, auctioneers and estate agents. This can be done by the Minister for Justice by order under the 1994 legislation but will take place only following detailed consultations with the professional bodies on the operational procedures and standards to be applied by the professions in question. This will ensure effective reporting and allow for the practical operation of the requirements at professional firm level. For the information of the House, there have already been discussions between the Department of Finance last year and the bodies representing solicitors and accountants on the operation of the existing money laundering provisions.
Section 4 amends section 64 of the 1994 Act to enable a member of the Garda Síochána, carrying out a search under a warrant issued under that section, to be accompanied by any other persons, for example, a Revenue Commission or Department of Social Welfare official rather than, as section 64 currently provides, only other members of the Garda Síochána.
Sections 5 to 9 are alike, making similar provisions in relation to a number of different tax heads. Section 5 amends section 184 of the Income Tax Act, 1967. That section provides for the making of an assessment to income tax in the absence of a return or in circumstances where the inspector has received information as to the insufficiency of any statement received from a person. Section 5 puts beyond doubt that the inspector may, in making an assessment, use information received from the Garda Síochána. It also provides that where Garda information is used, the origin of the information is not to be revealed except with the permission of a Chief Superintendent, so as to protect Garda intelligence gathering. Sections 6, 7, 8 and 9 make similar provisions in relation to corporation tax, stamp duty, capital acquisitions tax and residential property tax, respectively, as section 5 does for income tax.
Sections 10, 11 and 12 provide for anonymity for Revenue Commission officials in particular circumstances. Section 10 amends section 18 of the Finance Act, 1983, which provides that where an inspector of taxes has reason to believe that an account in a financial institution is being concealed by a person for tax purposes, an authorised officer of the Revenue Commissioners may apply to the High Court seeking information regarding the account. The changes now being made provide that where the court is satisfied that it is in the public interest, any documents relating to an application or order under the section will omit the name and address of the authorised officer, and in any cross examination or depositions made, the name and address of the authorised officer will not be revealed in court and the officer may give evidence in the sight and hearing of the judge and only in the hearing of anybody else.
Section 11 amends section 19 of the Finance Act, 1983, which provides for the assessment to tax of profits or gains arising from unknown or unlawful activity. The amendment relates to an investigation by any body set up to target the assets of criminals and provides that where, following an investigation by such a body, an assessment is raised under section 19 of the 1983 Act by an inspector who is a member of that body, the assessment may be issued, and the tax due demanded, in the name of the body rather than in the name of the individual officer.
Section 12 also relates to anonymity of Revenue officials involved in any body established to target criminal assets. In particular, the section provides that, when exercising his or her powers and duties on behalf of the body, a Revenue official will not be required to identify himself or herself but will be accompanied by a member of the Garda Síochána who will confirm that the official is an officer of the body. Furthermore, the Revenue official will perform written duties in the name of the body and not in his or her name.
Moving on to sections 13 and 14 of the Bill, it is also proposed to amend the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1879, in three ways. The purpose of these amendments is to allow the Garda greater and speedier access in the course of a criminal investigation to documents and records in the possession of financial institutions and other entities. Under the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, the High Court may grant, on the application of a garda of superintendent rank or higher, an order permitting the Garda to inspect and take copies of the books and records of licensed banks, the State banks and the building societies. However, as pointed out by the advisory committee on fraud established by the Government and chaired by Mr. Peter Maguire, SC, the Act can only be used in relation to a limited number of financial institutions.
It is proposed, accordingly, in section 13 to extend the application of the Bankers' Books Evidence Acts to allow the courts to make an order allowing the Garda to inspect and take copies of the financial records of credit unions, Stock Exchange member firms, investment intermediaries, moneybrokers, bureaux de change, life assurance undertakings and futures exchanges. It is also proposed to provide that the Minister for Finance may, following consultations with the Minister for Justice, add to the list of entities to which the Bankers' Books Evidence Act applies. The list of entities is broadly similar to the list of designated bodies in section 32 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1994, on which duties in respect of suspected money laundering are imposed.
Section 14 amends section 7A of the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1879, in two ways in line with the recommendations of the Maguire report. First, it extends the definition of a "banker's book" to cover documentation associated with or related to a bank's books and records, including such documentation in electronic form. This means that it will be possible for the Garda, on foot of a court order, to inspect letters and other documentation in the possession of a bank or other entity defined in the amendment to the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1879, contained in section 13 of this Bill. The reason for this amendment is that the Garda currently has access to the books and records of financial institutions but not to the underlying documentation on which such records are based, such as letters and lodgement slips.
Second, this section provides that the Garda may apply to the District Court or the Circuit Court, as well as to the High Court, for an order allowing them to inspect and copy extracts from the documents of an entity to which the Bankers' Books Evidence Act applies. This amendment will speed up the process of applying for an order under section 7A of the Bankers' Books Evidence Act. The introduction of these provisions is an urgent, measured and important part of the overall package we are introducing in response to the crime situation.
The Bill establishing the Criminal Assets Bureau, which is currently before the Dáil, will consolidate the effectiveness of the measures in this Bill. At the same time, this Bill will clear the way for the operational parameters of the bureau to be put in place now in advance of the enactment of the Criminal Assets Bureau Bill and for actual on the ground action and co-operation to take place. I am grateful to the House for its agreement to take all Stages of this Bill, which I commend to the House.