I raise this matter to ensure the money and property seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau is channelled into a special fund dedicated exclusively to the fight against drug abuse. All the moneys and properties confiscated by the Criminal Assets Bureau under the Proceeds of Crime Bill from the drug barons should be used in the fight against crime. I hope to table an amendment, if necessary, to the Finance Bill to establish a fund into which the proceeds of all seizures of property and cash confiscated from the drug barons could be deposited and used exclusively in the fight against drugs. I hope the Minister is receptive to that idea.
The establishment of the Criminal Assets Bureau was one of the Minister's ideas and was set out in a Labour Party policy document. I compliment the Minister on being so forceful in ensuring it was brought forward and enshrined in legislation. It is the primary plank of the Government's fight against the drug barons.
The Criminal Assets Bureau has put the drug barons under pressure. No longer are the newspapers full of stories about their fine lifestyles and disregard for the law. Houses in my constituency put up for sale by the drug barons prior to fleeing the country have been withdrawn on the direction of the bureau.
We have a long way to go to win the war against drugs, but the results in this context are extremely promising. It is important to hit the drug barons where it hurts most, in their pockets. At present many of the major drug barons have fled to England, Spain or the Netherlands and we know they are feeling the squeeze because their regular source of income is no longer easily available.
We must use the proceeds of the activities of the Criminal Assets Bureau to put life back into communities where drugs have been a scourge for so long. The tax assessment of assets seized under the new legislation is in the region of £3 million. The equestrian centre in Jessbrook alone is valued at approximately £4 million. The Criminal Assets Bureau is in the process of dealing with substantial sums of money.
A case could be made for continuing to use Jessbrook as an equestrian centre for the benefit of socially deprived or disabled young people or to turn it into a treatment centre for recovering addicts or children who might be exposed to drugs. That is an eminently suitable use to which to put that facility. It would be valuable if the money seized from drug pushers was seen to filter down to local authorities for use at local level. For example, local facilities in disadvantaged areas, such as sports and play facilities, could be used to a greater degree and more facilities could be put in place. There are approximately ten play centres lying idle in the Dublin Corporation area. The local health board councillors and so on could use such facilities as treatment centres in the fight against crime.
A considerable amount of funds have been directed towards the fight against drugs. Allocating resources in this manner from the seized proceeds of crime would signal our determination to fight the drug barons and it would show we were united in our efforts to use such funds for the benefit of the community.