Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality
Pre-legislative Scrutiny of the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Bill 2024: Discussion
Mr. Brendan Bruen:
I was going to come in on the broader question as to whether that provision is important. It is a reflection on how CAB has done its work that it has not been a focus to this - it has been quite narrow, focused and proportionate. There is the potential in how the Proceeds of Crime Act is structured that an injustice could arguably arise, in that we have an all-predicate model, so every criminal offence can generate proceeds. It is entirely plausible that under certain circumstances, a criminal offence might be quite minor but the proceeds would be very significant and there might be a proportionality question arising from that. It has been the focus of this discussion on a European level, where they take very specific predicate offences and will only do it for this to defend proportionality. Both how CAB has conducted its business and that provision within the Act are quite important safeguards in situations where this may see greater use or use outside of very specific organised crimes.