Seán Crowe
Ceist:577 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if discussions have taken place at any level within his Department regarding the manner of disposal for all property confiscated by the CAB. [25048/03]
Written Answers. - Criminal Assets Bureau.
Seán Crowe
Ceist:578 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will draw up plans to use the money and property confiscated by the CAB which will eventually be at his disposal to be made available for the upkeep and general running of community facilities in areas hard hit by drugs. [25049/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 577 and 578 together.
The Criminal Assets Bureau enforces the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 which provides statutory procedures of restraint. The effect of restraint orders made by the High Court is to freeze property deemed to be the proceeds of crime for at least seven years. After that period, a disposal order may be sought from the court to vest the property in the Minister for Finance. It is only where the court directs that such property be transferred that funds accrue to the Exchequer. Having regard to the seven year safeguard period, the issue of such disposal orders has not arisen to date.
The proposal that assets, which are determined by law to be the proceeds of crime, be committed directly towards anti-drugs and other related programmes would involve a significant departure from Government accounting principles which provide that it is a matter for the Government, with the approval of the Oireachtas, to determine the optimum allocation of Exchequer receipts in accordance with agreed priorities. Any departure from such principles could set a precedent which would be difficult to resist in those circumstances and which, no doubt, would reactivate long-standing demands for ring-fencing receipts in other sectoral areas. While the idea has been examined within my Department, I have no proposals at present to pursue the matter.
I would add that the majority of assets frozen to date under the Act did not derive from the activities of drug dealers and there is no logical link between those assets and drug prevention and treatment programmes. To channel all of those funds to drug initiatives could deprive other areas such as hospitals and schools of resources.
The Deputy will be aware that local drugs task forces have been established by the Government in the areas most affected by the drugs problem and an extension of this model is being delivered to other parts of the country through the establishment of regional drugs task forces. The Government continues to commit significant resources to these task forces to assist in developing a comprehensive and co-ordinated response to the drugs problem at a local level. Investment in this range of projects is many multiples of the amount for which the Criminal Assets Bureau has obtained interim and final restraint orders in relation to cases where the assets involved were linked to drug dealing.