Mr. Kevin McMeel:

I might take that question. The real challenge, and some of this is addressed in the proposed Bill, is that the world of crime has become far more international since 1996. At that time, we had very far-reaching legislation which our colleagues in the UK followed six years later, a situation that is quite unusual for Irish legislation. It was deemed to be effective. What we see now is that the criminals we are targeting tend to move abroad, particularly those who are at a high level. One of the downsides to having such far-reaching and pioneering legislation is that other jurisdictions tend not to recognise our orders. There are considerable challenges in trying to effect outside of this jurisdiction orders that are obtained in this jurisdiction. That is one of the primary challenges we have. The world has moved on since 1996. With the advent of cryptocurrency and similar technological advances, the investigating and seizing of assets, particularly virtual assets, is especially challenging. Although the Bill does not necessarily address those specific aspects, some of the proposed amendments will assist in investigating all types of proceeds of crime, including virtual currencies. Those are the two primary areas of challenge. The world has moved on and it is incumbent on us in the Criminal Assets Bureau to move with the times. Hopefully this Bill goes some of the way towards addressing those concerns.