Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 October 2021
686. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the amount of cash seized by An Garda Síochána in counties Kildare and Dublin in 2019 and 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form; and the amount returned on request or appeal. [50563/21]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, responsibility for the identification, tracing, freezing, and ultimate confiscation of criminal assets does not rest with a single body in Ireland and is spread across a number of different agencies and statutory bodies, not all of which are within the responsibility of the Department of Justice. The relevant bodies include An Garda Síochána, the Criminal Assets Bureau, the Revenue Commissioners, the Chief State Solicitors Office, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Courts. It should be noted that in some cases, funds seized represent overdue or unpaid personal taxation.
I am advised by the Garda authorities that An Garda Síochána do not disclose the breakdown of cash seized at divisional level for operational reasons.
