Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 November 2023
123. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Finance if he agrees with recent comments made by a senior civil servant at his Department that sanctions against Russia are "unenforceable" in Ireland, that Irish legislation in this area "does not work" and that the authorities "are all supposed to keep quiet about that"; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49396/23]
View answerThe Deputy may wish to note that EU sanctions have direct effect in all Member States of the EU, and they are legally binding on all natural and legal persons. As such, a natural or legal person who contravenes a provision of an EU sanctions regulation would be guilty of an offence and liable to prosecution.
Ireland has strongly supported sanctions in response to Russia’s unjust and illegal invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022 while also consistently emphasising the importance of effective implementation. Eleven packages of sanctions have been agreed by the EU to date. A twelfth package of sanctions will be discussed in the coming weeks.
The Cross-Departmental International Sanctions Committee (CDISC) monitors, reviews, and coordinates the implementation, administration and exchange of information on sanctions in Ireland.
A review of domestic implementation of sanctions commenced in late 2021 and the CDISC was tasked with overseeing this important work. Given the shift in context for sanctions implementation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, this work has fundamentally evolved and progressed as the number and range of sanctions increased. The framework for domestic sanctions implementation in Ireland continues to be assessed by CDISC, and work is ongoing to address any areas identified as requiring action.
Ireland has three competent authorities for all sanctions: the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment and the Central Bank of Ireland. They oversee the different aspects of restrictive measures.
The Central Bank is responsible for the administration and enforcement of financial sanctions. In administering financial sanctions, the Central Bank undertakes the following:
(1) Receives notifications from the financial services industry of assets/funds that have been frozen under the sanctions legislation. In this regard, all natural and legal persons, entities and bodies are required to report information to the Central Bank on assets held by them on behalf of individuals or entities that are subject to an asset freeze. The Central Bank collates the reports of frozen assets for onward transmission to the Department of Foreign Affairs. Currently, approximately €1.8 billion in sanctioned assets has been frozen and notified to the Central Bank by Irish credit and financial institutions. (2) Assesses applications for derogations that are permitted under the restrictive measures legislation, such as Regulation 269/2014, in respect of financial sanctions.(3) Engages with the other domestic Competent Authorities and the European Commission to ensure that restrictive measures and financial sanctions are being implemented correctly and consistently.
With respect to the EU’s implementation of sanctions, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Central Bank wrote to Special Purpose Entities (SPEs) with potential Russian links to seek confirmation of their adherence to the sanctions. The Central Bank engaged further with these identified firms, seeking confirmation of the specific steps they had taken to ensure compliance with financial sanctions and restrictive measures, reminding them of their ongoing obligations in this regard.
The Central Bank undertook an assessment of the information received, and based on that assessment, the Central Bank was satisfied that the identified SPEs had taken the necessary steps and had appropriate control frameworks in place to comply with the EU sanctions. The Central Bank did not uncover any actual or suspected breaches of EU sanctions in the course of this assessment. A breach of a financial sanction is a criminal offence under Irish legislation, and therefore, where the Central Bank is aware a breach has occurred or suspects a breach may occur, the matter is reported to An Garda Síochána.
In addition to the above assessment, since the implementation of the sanctions arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, the Central Bank has significantly increased its engagement with the financial services sector in order to support and ensure compliance with the EU sanctions. The Central Bank, as part of its ongoing supervision of credit and financial institutions, continues to engage with firms, both regulated and unregulated, to ensure that they have appropriate controls frameworks in place to meet their obligations in respect of financial sanctions and restrictive measures legislation.
The Deputy may also be interested to note that on 2 December 2022 the European Commission put forward a proposal for a Directive to harmonise criminal offences and penalties for the violation of EU restrictive measures (denoted as sanctions). The proposal sets out common EU rules which will make it easier to investigate, prosecute and punish violations of restrictive measures in all Member States alike. As this Directive has a Title V legal basis, Ireland has notified the Presidency of the Council of our intention to opt into this measure under Article 3 of Protocol 21. At last June’s Justice and Home Affairs Council, Ministers agreed a Council General Approach and trilogue negotiations are currently ongoing between the Council, European Parliament and European Commission in order to agree a final text.
