Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan:

The Senator is aware that since our last meeting the Minister asked for a comprehensive refreshed assessment to be done. We keep our assessments on the activities of various groups under constant review. In this instance we were asked by the Minister to conduct a fresh assessment, and we certainly worked very closely and maintained very close liaisons with our colleagues in the Police Service of Northern Ireland, particularly on any evidence emerging in the wake of certain murders in Northern Ireland. Our assessment was very comprehensive. We employed a robust methodology, including bringing together all of our assistant commissioners and various senior investigative officers.

We base our assessments on hard facts, credible intelligence and emerging evidence, and we employed a very robust methodology based on these factors. We took a reference point of November 2010. It is very important at the outset to state that this is a very complex area. As we said at the last meeting, which is consistent with the findings of the Independent Monitoring Commission, IMC, neither the IMC nor An Garda Síochána has said the IRA has disbanded. Our assessment is in the public domain, in terms of our commitment to tackling criminality and terrorism in all its forms irrespective of the background of the individuals involved.

To answer the question directly, we looked at the number of persons who had been associated with the Provisional IRA who were charged before the Special Criminal Court during the period of time we examined. It is indicative of the input and resources dedicated to it that 70 persons were charged before the Special Criminal Court with a variety of terrorist offences. Of the persons charged, 33 had been associated with the Provisional IRA. It is important to state those persons were charged in their capacity as either dissident republicans or acting individually in a terrorist capacity.

We also looked at the issue of the proceeds of crime. It is worthy of note that since the inception of the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, 50 persons associated with the Provisional IRA have been served with a variety of tax assessments, totalling an amount of €28 million, which has been surrendered to the Exchequer. These are important points to note in terms of the level of activity.