Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 February 2014
185. Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason, as noted by the EU anti-corruption report, the number of convictions for white-collar crime in Ireland has fallen from 579 in 2003 to 178 in 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7249/14]
View answerInsofar as the figures cited are concerned, the position is that 'white collar crime' is not a distinct category of offences under the classification system applied by the Central Statistics Office in the official Recorded Crime Statistics. It appears that the figures referred to by the Deputy may be those for one of the sub-categories of 'Fraud Offences', under the CSO classifications. That category encompasses a wide variety of criminal activities, potentially ranging from elaborate corporate fraud to lower level instances of deception against individuals. The figures cited also exclude other offences which might be considered as 'white collar' crime, including certain offences for which the appropriate regulatory and investigatory bodies are the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, and the Central Bank respectively. As such the figures cited are not necessarily a reliable indicator of overall trends in this regard.
It is also important to note in interpreting figures for detection and conviction rates that the investigation, detection and prosecution of any offence may take a considerable time. This is particularly so where the crime may be complex, as is often the case in fraud offences. Accordingly, the initial conviction rate for any given year will inevitably appear lower than the eventual rate. For this reason caution should be exercised in comparing conviction rates for offences recorded in 2003 with those recorded in 2010.
I can, however, assure the Deputy that I continue to attach the highest priority to the full investigation of white collar offences and bringing the perpetrators of such crimes to justice. Shortly after taking up office I moved urgently to introduce additional legislation in this area which was enacted as the Criminal Justice Act 2011, and provides vital assistance to An Garda Síochána in white collar crime investigations. The Garda Commissioner is aware that any further legislative proposals he might have which would assist in the investigation and detection of white collar crime, or of fraud offences generally, will be positively considered by me.
