Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 February 2015
2. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her views on the strategy of An Garda Síochána, working in partnership with other State agencies, and the resources available to them; if she will tackle white collar crime, in view of the recent revelations that 350 Irish persons held 892 of the controversial HSBC accounts in Geneva, worth a total of €3.1 billion. [7170/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis question relates to a statement in the strategy of An Garda Síochána on white collar crime and follows the revelations that 350 Irish persons held 892 accounts in HSBC Geneva, at this stage, a notorious bank, worth a total of €3.1 billion.
In so far as the specific circumstances referred to by the Deputy are concerned, I understand that these have been the subject of investigation by the Revenue Commissioners following receipt and assessment of information in regard to those accounts. While the Deputy will appreciate that I have no role in regard to the Revenue Commissioners, it may be helpful to inform the House that information was sought and obtained from the French authorities in regard to bank accounts, purported to be held with HSBC Bank Geneva, that had been linked to Irish nationals or to addresses in Ireland. To date, Revenue has initiated 33 investigations as a direct result of the data received. As a result of these investigations, 20 settlement payments were made. The total amount recovered to date is €4.5 million, while a further €174,000 has been received as payments on account in two ongoing investigations.
On the basis of the data provided and the subsequent investigations that were conducted Revenue also took action, in any cases where sufficient admissible evidence was available, to bring a criminal prosecution in regard to any identified tax offences. To date, three persons have been convicted of such offences.
In so far as my Department's remit is concerned, the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, GBFI, is charged with investigating serious and complex fraud matters and has resources and expertise to carry out this function. I have said to Deputy Mac Lochlainn previously that the Garda Commissioner has informed me of the extra resources that she is putting into this area, and we have discussed that here previously. The GBFI works closely with the Director of Corporate Enforcement, the Central Bank, the Revenue Commissioners and the Competition Authority, and GBFI staff are seconded to both the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE, and the Competition Authority. It is a close working relationship.
The Criminal Justice Act 2011 provided for new procedures to facilitate Garda access to essential information and documentation that they may need to help in the investigation of such crimes. I am continuing to keep these provisions under review, in consultation with my colleagues.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
I am also in ongoing contact with the Garda Commissioner in regard to the arrangements in place to investigate serious crime of this nature. To this end, tackling white collar crime is identified as one of the policing priorities I have set for An Garda Síochána for 2015, and this is reflected in the recently published Garda Policing Plan. The plan also rightly addresses the improvement of crime management and investigation techniques, in the context of an overall programme of modernisation within An Garda Síochána. The Deputy will be aware from our previous discussions that the Commissioner already had underway a comprehensive review and strategic realignment of An Garda Síochána's capacity to deal with emerging and complex crimes, such as those coming under the GBFI's responsibility. This review is ongoing and the recommendations of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate in regard to crime investigation generally are also of relevance in this respect. I look forward to the outcome of this process and will, of course, continue to engage further with the Commissioner on how complex white collar crime can best be tackled.
The Minister will recall that I raised this with her not long after her appointment, in June 2014. It followed the alarming comments of Mr. Remy Farrell SC at the Bar Council's annual conference where he outlined his concerns.
If I might backtrack, I re-read an article by Dr. Elaine Byrne last night. With Ansbacher, there were 289 cases of illegality and not one person has been prosecuted. Following the DIRT inquiry involving 3,675 bogus accounts, how many prosecutions have there been? Following the bank crisis that left the State under the troika and the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank, how many have been held accountable for all of that? Now, there is this HSBC story. It was a fluke that this came to our attention. It fell into our hands through a whistleblower, documents showed up in France and we pursued them.
The concern in all of this is cutbacks. If one looks at the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB,-----
I am sorry, Deputy.
I will deal with it in a supplementary.
The question Deputy Mac Lochlainn raised with me relates to the HSBC and I have given him the figures of the investigations that were carried out. Criminal investigations, where there was evidence in regard to fraud or a criminal matter, have been pursued, and I have given him the results of that.
The Deputy makes the broader point on tackling white collar crime, which is the key point on which he is focusing. Last year, as I told the Deputy previously, the Commissioner ordered a comprehensive review - really, a strategic realignment - of Garda capacity in this area and capability to deal with these emerging and complex crimes. She is also generally looking at the Garda Inspectorate reports on the management of investigations.
I want to reassure Deputy Mac Lochlainn. The personnel strength of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation is approximately 70. All of the members of An Garda Síochána working in this area have the relevant expertise and are working closely with international colleagues, in Interpol and Europol, and are exchanging information and pursuing any instances where there is a crime, and bringing forward prosecutions wherever the evidence is there. It is one of the policing priorities for this year that have been identified in the policing plan.
Returning to the occasion to which I referred, Mr. Farrell SC stated that the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation had been swamped since 2011 and that of the cases it had reached only one in ten ended in prosecution. Mr. Ian Drennan, at the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, has spoken about having only one forensic accountant when there was need for at least five. There are serious problems, not only in An Garda Síochána but across all of the different agencies. For instance, the CAB's budget was cut by 15% over the period 2008-12. The Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation was cut by 21% over the period 2008-11 while that of the ODCE was cut by 12%. The Government is tying the hands of those who need to be dealing with white collar crime.
I repeat that this type of behaviour brought the State to collapse. It is not the behaviour of those who have not paid their small fines or television licences, who we imprison regularly. It is the behaviour of those who brought us to collapse who know that they will not be imprisoned and will not face fines.
I am aware there was a review. There needs to be an urgent independent reappraisal and analysis of all of the different agencies tasked with it. These include the CAB, the ODCE, the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, the Central Bank, Revenue, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, NBCI and the Competition Authority. All of them need to be working together. I believe the Garda should have the overall management of that process so that it can, for the first time in the history of the State, properly deal with white collar crime and send a clear signal to those involved in it.
That this is a priority area in the policing plan for this year illustrates the seriousness with which this issue is being taken.
Deputy Mac Lochlainn makes a point about resources. I am pleased that this year we have been able to increase the resources to An Garda Síochána for the first time in a number of years and that we are working on the ICT issues, which are essential in order to deal with the type of complex crime which he describes. Progress is being made on all of those fronts.
I assure Deputy Mac Lochlainn that there has been a strategic review within An Garda Síochána to bring the relevant resources, such as he describes, together. There is an increasing focus, as there needs to be, on inter-agency work. We have the legislation in place.
Prosecutions are being brought, there is no question of that. I have given the Deputy the figures on the case to which he referred. I fully support Deputy Mac Lochlainn's point on the need for white collar crime to be a priority area and it is being treated as such.
