The murder of a journalist is sinister in the extreme. She was murdered because of her skills in exposing information which is vital in challenging the criminal subculture which is threatening the existence of society. This act is a challenge to a vital element of our hard-won democracy, the independence and freedom of expression of the media. Journalists must be free of threats and terror. It is important in this context, as the Minister said, to put everything in place to ensure these people are tackled and brought to justice.
For that reason, I welcome the regulation before the House. It is important in that it brings into force a section of the Criminal Justice Act, 1994, to confiscate and freeze the proceeds of crime. Under that Act, the proceeds of crime can be confiscated and an order extends that power to other countries. Orders made by our courts to freeze and confiscate the proceeds of crime can be implemented in other countries and similar court orders in other countries can be enforced here. Crime is an international activity which does not cease at nor is it confined or enclosed by the shores of this country. It is must be dealt with internationally.
This regulation will allow us to ratify two important conventions: the United Nations Vienna 1988 Convention against Illicit Drug Trafficking, in narcotic and psychotropic drugs, and the Council of Europe Strasbourg 1990 Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of Proceeds of Crime.
The criminal will be hit hardest is in his pocket. The multi-millionaire drug barons about whom we hear daily must be brought to justice and not be allowed to enjoy the proceeds of their crimes. These must be confiscated under the 1994 Act. This is complicated legislation and I agree with the Minister that many people do not fully understand or realise the powers of the State since 1994 in confiscation of assets. The Minister is right in bringing this to our attention. Recent discussions in the media illustrate that it is not fully understood that crime proceeds can be confiscated if the information is available. People are obliged and should be encouraged to bring information to the Garda so that people who commit acts such as the cruel murders of both Garda McCabe and Veronica Guerin are brought to justice. This information is available. We saw the great public response to the Garda request for information after the murder of Jerry McCabe. We see daily arrests and questioning of key people because of the public response. I am confident the response will be repeated for information on the death of Veronica Guerin. The response should be similar on all occasions and whether thugs are drug barons or subversives does not make any difference. These people challenge the fabric of our society and the foundations of our democracy. We all have a duty to assist the Garda in any way we can to ensure they bring a case to court.
Since drug trafficking and crime are international problems we must look towards improved co-operation between police forces. What we are doing today is co-operating in providing for the confiscation of the proceeds of crime. Two weeks ago we dealt with money laundering and so on. Co-operation between police forces has increased since the advent of the open border but we must continue to improve it. In the light of the massive scale of international activities like drug trading and terrorism, it is important that European police forces become a cohesive unit which will have adequate resources to carry out detailed research into the problem and to formulate laws and strategies to combat it. Urgent action is needed to improve the co-ordination and efficiency of agencies combating drug trafficking across the Community. I am glad that the Government has placed this at the top of its agenda during the EU Presidency and I look forward to progress in this area.
The drug traffickers operate on an international basis and know no boundaries. The war against them will be lost unless we co-ordinate our forces. We must introduce a European Union drugs task force modelled on the United States task force programme which should be adapted for Community use. The relevant department in Interpol should expanded and reorganised on the basis of a number of principles and recommendations suggested in the report of the 1986 Committee of Inquiry and should be given full financial backing. It is frightening that only between 5 and 10 per cent of illegal drugs are recovered by international security forces each year.
The opening of European borders facilitates the distribution of drugs throughout EU member states. Unfortunately, since 1992, there has been a dramatic increase in drug trafficking. Today's measures will assist in dealing in one way with this problem.
Money laundering, which we already discussed, must be re-examined. International banking legislation and conventions of secrecy facilitate the safe disposal and concealment of the vast profits from criminal activity. While I accept there must be confidentiality in legitimate financial transactions, progress must be made in devising means of detecting quantities of funds from criminal activities within the legitimate banking system so that the regulations brought in today can be put into practice in freezing these funds. Means must be found to identify these moneys in banks.
All the available evidence strongly suggests that large-scale crime is becoming more sophisticated in its scope and has increasing international dimensions. It has also come to be recognised that where large amounts of criminal proceeds are involved it is by no means sufficient that the perpetrators of crime should be dealt with simply by way of imprisonment and fines. Other measures are called for which include the confiscation of criminal assets on an international basis, a measure that is before the House today. This is required to target those who reap substantial rewards from crime at the expense of others and of society as a whole.
Nowhere is there a greater need for these additional measures than in the area of drug trafficking. We all know tremendous profits can be made from drugs and that this obnoxious trade is being carried out by evil parasites who prey on others, especially on our young.
It is hard to imagine a greater threat to the quality of life than drug trafficking. In many other countries these activities have undermined legitimate business because many drug traffickers and other professional criminals move their finances into legitimate businesses. The reality of what happens is all too simple and there is a pattern about it that is all too familiar to us in our role as public representatives. The drug godfathers set about creating a market for their products among young people. Very soon those whom they successfully target become addicts who live for nothing but their fix. The obsession with feeding their addiction is such that over time virtually all social values disappear.
This is an important motion in tackling an element of the problem. I agree with the Minister who said that it is only an element of the overall approach that must be taken towards controlling and reducing this terrible evil in society. It is, however, an important step which I welcome wholeheartedly.