Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 January 2024
424. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 559 of 12 December 2023, if she has received the necessary information from the Garda authorities to have this PQ answered. [2483/24]
View answerI understand that Parliamentary Question No. 559 of the 12 December 2023 refers to the number of houses and caravans that were seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau and are still under the remit of the CAB as of 5 December 2023.
As 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’s remit is to target a person's assets, wherever situated, 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 and disrupting the activities of criminal gangs by depriving them of ill-gotten assets.
Under the Criminal Assets Bureau Act 1996, the Chief Bureau Officer is responsible for the management and control of the administration and business of the Criminal Assets Bureau, including the staffing of the Bureau. Under the Act, the Chief Bureau Officer is responsible to the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána for these functions. As Minister for Justice, I have no direct role in these functions.
I have been advised by the Garda authorities that the number of properties (houses) seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau that remained in the possession of the Bureau Receiver as of 5 December 2023 is 27.
I am further advised that under section 7 of the Money Laundering Act in July 2020, CAB seized 3 mobile homes (caravans) as part of their investigations. I am advised that the outcome of the investigations is yet to be determined.
