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Select Committee on Finance and General Affairs debate -
Thursday, 12 Sep 1996

SECTION 3.

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 4, between lines 33 and 34 to insert the following subsection:

"(2) The Bureau shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and to acquire, hold and dispose of land or an interest in land and to acquire, hold and dispose of any other property.".

This amendment is designed to strengthen the independent legal status of the bureau. It follows similar provisions in other legislation, for example, establishing the National Treasury Management Agency. The ability of the bureau to act on its own behalf reinforces the provisions in the Bill which protect the anonymity of bureau officers and the staff of the bureau. That is the reason for its inclusion.

Will the indemnity of individual members of the bureau be fully covered? I understand that members of some semi-State boards which might not be as liable to prosecution are concerned that they do not have full indemnity from the State. Will the members be covered by the State?

All the operational officers are covered by the Garda compensation provisions which are set out in some detail in section 14 of the Bill. This is more about the actual autonomy and status of the bureau as a legal body in its own right to initiate, pursue and take legal decisions as a body corporate.

It is a significant amendment in that it sets up the bureau almost as a State agency. From my reading of the amendment, it would be possible to transfer criminals' assets or moneys taken from bank accounts to the bureau.

I presume it was necessary to set up the bureau as a corporate body which can be sued, etc., but which will have other functions in its own right. It will be given powers to hold and dispose of land and other assets. The amendment is worthwhile because the Bureau can act as an independent body and take decisions. However, it must be borne in mind that actions can be taken against it and although I would not anticipate many such actions, they will occur occasionally.

This amendment will give corporate body status to the bureau in a way that will enable it, for example, to have the title and the legal capability to hold property until such time as a decision is made to dispose of it.

Any moneys which are due to Revenue will be paid to the Revenue Commissioners and any cash assets will be paid into the Exchequer so we are talking about non-tax revenues due to the Revenue Commissioners or non-cash assets in whatever shape or form.

It is possible that the bureau, which is now set up as a corporate body, could come into possession of useless property which has no value and end up with an enormous amount of such property around the country. I have just written to the Minister about a beautiful property in County Sligo which has come into his possession by reason of the Companies Act.

I am sure it is not useless.

The essence of my letter was that it is useless and should revert to someone else. This can occur in cases where a company is wound up and the residue of the property becomes the property of the Minister for Finance. Could the bureau be burdened with useless property? Is there provision in the Bill to prevent this?

Property which comes into the possession of the State by default is disposed of in a number of different ways. Sometimes this would occur in consultation with local authorities where that would be relevant. There are existing provisions and laws of which the Deputy will be aware and these will be adhered to. There is no intention to deviate from normal practice.

The purpose of this amendment is to enable the bureau as a corporate body to hold such property in its own right. The decision as to its disposal would be taken in the normal way. This Bill does not intrude or impede on existing practice.

Any member of a local authority who has tried to have a CPO put on what appeared to be useless property realises how valuable that wonderful property becomes when a CPO notice is served on it.

There is not much useless property left now even in County Sligo.

Amendment agreed to.
Section 3, as amended, agreed to.
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