Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2022
752. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the steps that are being taken by her Department and the Criminal Assets Bureau to tackle illegal paramilitary groupings in relation to their assets and illegal money-lending activities. [37974/22]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is a multi-agency statutory body established under the Criminal Assets Bureau Act, 1996. The Bureau has staff drawn from An Garda Síochána, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners (including Customs), the Department of Social Protection and my Department.
The Bureau’s remit is to target assets, wherever situated, which derive or are suspected to derive, directly or indirectly, from criminal conduct. The Bureau has been at the forefront of fighting organised crime in this jurisdiction – disrupting the activities of criminal gangs through the removal of their ill-gotten gains - and has been recognised as a world leader in asset investigations, tracing and forfeiture.
Since its inception the Bureau has conducted investigations into individuals and Organised Criminal Groups including illegal Paramilitary Groups involved in various types of crime including illegal money-lending activities. These investigations are conducted in conjunction with and with the assistance of several other law enforcement agencies. The Bureau does not record statistics in relation to a specific crime type in any given area.
Work is also underway to consider how best to support CAB in its important work. Last year my Department completed a review which presented a number of recommendations. One which I am intending to pursue as a priority is reducing the timeframe for the making of a ‘Disposal Order’. The intention is to substantially reduce the statutory timeframe before a ‘Disposal Order' can be made from seven years. Reducing this period would mean that those who generate criminal assets cannot benefit from them for extended periods.
Earlier this year I also launched the Community Safety Innovation Fund Scheme. The new fund will use money seized from the proceeds of crime to support investment in innovative community safety projects and is a fitting reflection of the successful work of An Garda Síochána and the Criminal Assets Bureau in identifying and seizing proceeds from criminal activity.
The fund has an initial allocation of €2 million under Budget 2022, and I expect this funding to increase in future.
