Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 May 2014
10. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Finance the reporting mechanisms and training received by Central Bank of Ireland officials for reporting matters to An Garda Síochána under section 33AK of the 1942 Act, as required in the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22174/14]
View answer41. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Finance the total number of cases where suspicions of a criminal offence arose and the Central Bank of Ireland reported the matter to An Garda Síochána, as required under section 33AK of the 1942 Act, in the past five years; the nature of the complaints reported; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22173/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 41 together.
I have been informed by the Central Bank that supervisors employed at the Central Bank are informed of their obligations under Section 33AK of the Central Bank Act 1942 as part of their training. In terms of the reporting mechanism in place at the Central Bank, I have been further informed that each supervisory area has a mechanism for reporting matters to An Garda Síochána. Where issues arise, qualified legal experts from the Legal and Enforcement Divisions of the Central Bank are available to Central Bank staff for consultation.
Section 33AK of the Central Bank Act 1942 requires inter alia that Central Bank staff report to the appropriate specified bodies (including amongst others An Garda Síochána) any information that leads them to suspect that a criminal offence may have been committed by an entity supervised by the Central Bank. The Central Bank regularly submits such reports to the specified bodies. The total number of reports made in each calendar year to the appropriate specified bodies are included, in aggregate, in the Central Bank's Annual Reports.
As per the figures included in the Annual Reports 2009 to 2013 inclusive, the Central Bank has submitted 689 such reports in that period. The vast majority of these reports were made to An Garda Síochána, however, the figures are not broken down by agency over the full five year period. While the nature of the reports varies, the majority are under the Central Bank Acts and Criminal Justice Acts 1994 and 2010, with a smaller number of reports under, amongst others, the Insurance Mediation Regulations, MiFID and Building Society Act.
