Mr. Michael Gubbins:

With regard to what the Criminal Assets Bureau seized in 2024 and how it differs from 1996, to some extent very little has changed in that we have criminals who make money and wealth off the backs of people who have addiction and who are subject to violence and disruption in their lives and chaotic lifestyles. Much as in 1996, when people displayed their wealth and lived beyond their means and it was quite visible to the community, this still persists. A question I am often asked is what has changed. Very little has changed when we look at it at this level. What probably magnifies it a bit more today is that the criminals and people we go after are probably more willing to share and tell others about it through their lifestyle. This may be through Instagram or social media or showing it to their friends.

The Deputy referred to different neighbourhoods and communities where people might feel disempowered and see this as their way out because they look up to Aodhán or Michael, who has a car and a watch and lives a certain lifestyle, all on the back of criminality and all that is behind that. They aspire to get the jacket, the watch and so on. It is really important for us to go into all those communities. We have targets in every county in the country. The Deputy spoke about mini CABs. That is something the bureau has identified or looked at over recent years. We have well over 500 divisional asset profilers, as we call them, throughout the country. The majority of them are gardaí and are attached to the local detective unit or the drug unit. We also have people in Revenue and the Department of Social Protection. We have more than 50 new asset profilers to be trained next Tuesday. We describe them as our eyes and ears in the community. The bureau works very well with those asset profilers to identify criminals, targets and assets in their localities. The work of the Criminal Assets Bureau is not just centred in Dublin or in big rural areas; it is in every corner of the country, both rural and urban.

I am not sure if I got all the Deputy's questions.