Mr. Colm Kincaid:

When we make a report to An Garda Síochána, obviously that is passing the matter of criminal investigation to them. The force has its own challenges on resourcing prioritisation it must go through. We work with An Garda Síochána to support any criminal investigation or prosecution activity it follows through on. This is perhaps a little bit off the topic of authorised push payment fraud specifically, but we have, for example, in the area of market abuse and other types of activity we are concerned about, made our staff available to An Garda Síochána to assist it in its investigation to try to follow through. We have had some successes, which are now in the public domain, in relation to criminal convictions.

I am trying to find examples that are in public domain to speak to. It may not be generally recognised, but the US CFTC has also called out the Central Bank of Ireland, specifically and publicly, for assistance we gave it on international securities fraud. In the area of the likes of unlicensed activity, particularly for unauthorised activity by what used to be called licensed moneylenders, now high-cost credit providers, we would provide, and have provided on a number of occasions, evidence in court to try to substantiate a Garda investigation.

I do not have a statistical follow-through for the Deputy because it can take a long time for the Garda to go through it. We are also very conscious that the Garda, using its particular skills and powers, will often achieve results that may not necessarily appear on a prosecution statistic. Our primary focus is making sure the activity - the harm - is brought to an end. After that, we work with An Garda Síochána and take its lead as to what it needs from us to pursue any criminal investigation, including making our own staff and resources available to it, if need be, to help it with some of the pressures it can face in this regard.