Dr. Jim Stewart:

The short answer to that question is "No". We do not have the resources. The US Treasury has enormous resources and legal power and it appears to have difficulty in tracking down the assets of Putin and other Russian oligarchs. Perhaps it knows and is not saying. This is something that cannot be done by Ireland alone.

If one thinks of the chain of ownership, every country where part of the chain hits its location must combine and use their resources together with those of others in order to try to track down the ownership of these.

This needs an EU-wide initiative which includes other countries within the EU, which run into the difficulties as to why they would comply. If the EU can get an agreement and a directive at the Council, then this will have the force of law in every country such as Malta, Cyprus, Ireland and Denmark. They will all then have to comply with the EU directive. That might be a way that this issue could be tackled.