Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 December 2022
229. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Justice the amount seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau per county in each of the years 2015 to 2021 and to date in 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62516/22]
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 the assets, wherever situated, of persons which derive or are suspected to derive, directly or indirectly, from criminal conduct. Since its inception, 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.
The Bureau works closely with Gardaí and all law enforcement agencies at national and international levels and continues to focus its efforts on targeting assets deriving from all types of criminal conduct. The Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act 2005 makes provision for the Bureau to seize assets that were generated in foreign jurisdictions. This Act enables the Bureau to cooperate fully with other international asset recovery agencies.
I am advised by CAB that a significant and disproportionate amount of resources would be required to provide the geographic breakdown as requested and that in light of this, CAB is not in a position to provide the information you have sought.
However to be of assistance, the table below provided by CAB details the total value of assets and cash seized by the Bureau for the years 2011-2021.
|
Year |
Section 2 Interim Orders EURO |
Section 2 Interim Orders STERLING |
|
2011 |
5,384,559.73 |
6,725.00 |
|
2012 |
2,110,334.78 |
|
|
2013 |
2,821,302.00 |
|
|
2014 |
6,760,182.00 |
|
|
2015 |
941,078.59 |
|
|
2016 |
643,063.07 |
|
|
2017 |
7,020,539.20 |
|
|
2018 |
8,263,582.30 |
|
|
2019 |
64,985,550.30* |
|
|
2020 |
5,814,206.00 |
|
|
2021 |
3,068,528.00 |
* The 2019 figure includes the granting of a freezing order over cryptocurrency to the value of €53,023,140.
The table below sets out the total monies returned to the Exchequer under Section 4(1) & 4A of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996. Also included are taxes collected and social welfare recoveries for the years 2011 – 2021 which are remitted to the Exchequer via the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection.
|
Year |
Total to Exchequer from Section 4(1) & 4A Proceed of Crime Act |
Revenue Collections |
Social Welfare Recoveries |
|
2011 |
€2,734,715.22 |
€3,804,867.00 |
€454,037.49 |
|
2012 |
€4,850,540.17 |
€1,967,925.00 |
€393,797.00 |
|
2013 |
€1,038,680.52 |
€5,418,000.00 |
€287,380.00 |
|
2014 |
€467,152.37 |
€3,017,000.00 |
€335,911.00 |
|
2015 |
€1,642,962.29 |
€2,038,000.00 |
€185,354.32 |
|
2016 |
€1,412,920.41 |
€2,106,000.00 |
€297,430.12 |
|
2017 |
€1,698,721.08 |
€2,374,000.00 |
€319,720.31 |
|
2018 |
€2,271,799.92 |
€3,097,000.00 |
€302,673.36 |
|
2019 |
€1,559,726.31 |
€2,206,000.00 |
€324,055.73 |
|
2020 |
€1,838,507.25 |
€1,800,000.00 |
€314,484.60 |
|
2021 |
€5,549,661.95 |
€4,401,000.00 |
€364,827.00 |
The Deputy may also wish to be aware that this information is publicly available in CAB’s Annual Reports. For the Deputy's information the CAB Annual Reports are available to view at the following link:
www.cab.ie/annual-reports/
I am advised by the Bureau that figures for 2022 are not yet available, and will be published as part of the CAB Annual Report for 2022.
