Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin welcomes this Bill and will support its passage through the House. We must all continue to work hard to ensure it is made increasingly tough for those involved in criminality to channel their money in a way that allows them to live a lifestyle repugnant to any sense of justice.

For too long, many of our communities have faced the scourge of organised criminality and criminal gangs. Over the years we have had instances where governments have been slow to tackle this and unwittingly allowed criminals to operate all too easily. Dublin in the 1980s was in the throes of a massive drug epidemic. Limerick became a city people were afraid even to visit because it was referred to so often as "stab city", a massive disservice to the wonderful and resilient people of the city. The gangland killings on the streets of Dublin continue.

Sinn Féin has repeatedly criticised the failure of successive Twenty-six Counties Governments to seriously tackle the causes of organised crime across the State. Substantial cuts to front-line services, both statutory and community, in the most disadvantaged and vulnerable communities across this State can only benefit these criminal gangs. Also, cutting Garda numbers by 10% can only benefit these gangs. The previous Government and the existing Government have operated and are operating, respectively, a policy of removing resources from gardaí to the point that we may fall below the unacceptable threshold of 13,000 in numbers. I noted the Minister's comments that the Croke Park II agreement vote will cause a delay in recruitment, but I appeal to the Minister and the Government to resolve this as soon as possible.

Often much of the criminality narrative and reporting has centred on drugs, but this is not the only type of criminality facing us. We must also tackle diesel laundering and cigarette smuggling head on. Retail Ireland has pointed out that this recession has led to an increase in fuel smuggling and the sale of smuggled cigarettes. The impact of these activities has been very serious for our domestic economy. Last year Retail Ireland reported that 12% of all diesel sold in Ireland was illegal, 19 oil laundries were detected and closed, and 690,000 litres of oil were seized. These are massive figures which are having a huge effect on our economy and also hurting the communities in which they are taking place. Almost 25% of the Irish cigarette market is sourced from the black market and in 2011, 109 million illegal cigarettes, with a value of €45.9 million, were seized.

The Exchequer is losing €861 million annually because of illegal black market activity and theft. We are already seeing a struggling retail sector as a result of the economic downturn and now we are seeing it suffer again because of the sale of counterfeit and smuggled goods. Retail Ireland has stated that sales have fallen by over 30% since the start of the recession and thousands of jobs have been lost. It is crucial that this sector is not further squeezed by illegal criminal activity.

We must take on board some of the recommendations that have been put forward in this area. Retail Ireland, when addressing the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, offered to put money towards the scanners that could be used to detect illegal goods concealed in large containers that are coming into our ports. This is a simple, cost-effective action that can be taken to tackle this type of smuggling head on with fast and effective results. Retail Ireland also raised the open selling of counterfeit cigarettes in markets and the need to deploy Garda resources to police this. Mobile scanners can be used to detect these counterfeit tobacco products. The presentation by Retail Ireland not only outlined the scale of the problem but outlined solutions, and I commend it to the Minister.

We must be more serious about white collar crime. The Minister will have been alarmed, as I was, to learn that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, including journalists from institutions as eminent as The Guardian, the BBC and The Washington Post , had uncovered a huge network of offshore accounts and tax avoidance schemes. It is estimated that, globally, €16 trillion to €25 trillion is lost from states as a result of this tax avoidance.

People in this State were identified as playing a role in that. In this State historically we have seen accountants and solicitors who have colluded in this practice and encouraged clients to participate in this criminality, denying the State badly needed revenue for hospitals, school and communities.

There was the spectacle of the Ansbacher scandal a number of years ago. How many went to jail over that scandal? Repeatedly, the people are exposed to white-collar crime which has an even more devastating impact than many of the cases that go through the circuit and district courts every week, but yet very few serve real time and pay the price for that. The deterrent needs to be much stronger. There has been plenty of forewarning of offshore accounts and tax avoidance. When will we deal with that? When will we demand full accountability from banks and all the professional classes to ensure that this stops once and for all? It is a global challenge, but Europe could lead the way with further amendments to legislation on these matters.

As a party, we call not only for international co-operation on matters such as this, but also for a strong all-island policing policy. This is not merely an all-island issue. We need to tackle this internationally, and as strongly as possible. There can be no hiding place for criminals to squirrel away their illegally gained moneys and we must make sure of this, through international co-operation and co-operation on this island between our two policing services. In the recent past I had the privilege of meeting Assistant Garda Commissioner Kieran Kenny who is responsible directly for that relationship and the co-ordination between the PSNI and the Garda, and I was reassured by the messages I received from him and the practical examples of co-operations. I commend both police services for that and I hope to see more stronger co-operation in tackling the scourge of criminality on this island.

I take this opportunity to re-pledge my party's support for the Criminal Assets Bureau on its significant successes. The CAB is a vital instrument in combatting gangs, going after what these people hold most dearly - their money. According to its latest figures, the CAB has seized more than €133 million of illicit profits from criminal activity since its foundation in 1996. I very much welcome this, but Sinn Féin would like to see some changes to how this money is used.

My party has made a number of attempts - I, personally, have made one attempt - to bring forward a Private Members' Bill which would ensure that the money seized is ring-fenced for and reinvested in the communities worst affected by this type of activity. It was ruled out of order because of the cost to the Exchequer rule. I disagree with that. Our proposals would not be a cost to the Exchequer and would be cost neutral, but there it is. I would encourage the Minister to look at that. The money seized should be pumped into drugs task forces and community projects supporting communities affected by drugs crime and other crimes. Approximately, €14 million was seized solely under the proceeds of crime legislation between 2006 and 2010, and we have asked the Government to retain this money for community development purposes. This is separate to the money that is seized by CAB for revenue and social welfare fraud. It is the money taken from drug dealers and criminals who are profiting from the communities they are terrorising.

The Government continues to cut community funding in general and the current legislation allows for all moneys collected by the Criminal Assets Bureau to be returned to the Exchequer in accordance with the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Acts 1996 and 2005. The funds are then paid into the Government's Central Fund, from which the Government draws for expenditure. If the Government had the political will to fund these much needed community organisations, it could easily do it by amending the Proceeds of Crime Acts. Sinn Féin calls on the Government to introduce this mechanism to fund local drugs task forces and community groups in the worst affected areas.

Before I conclude, I would bring the Minister's attention to a couple of issues. Some of the previous money laundering Bills have had knock-on effects for some ordinary citizens inadvertently caught-up in criminal investigations. Can the Minister reassure me that if a person is cleared of any suspicion here, this will be the case internationally? We have seen situations where a person may have had money placed in his or her accounts by accident, arose suspicions, been cleared and then had it held against them while travelling. We need to ensure that the right procedures are taken to ensure data protection and consistency are followed. These laws also place a greater onus on small businesses to pour more resources, often with a financial impact, into identifying customers. We need to ensure that in any legislation such as this that we are passing the House does not contain anything that has the potential to make life difficult for normal citizens and small businesses. Can the Minister assure me that where this Bill means a small-business owner must take steps to further establish a customer's identity and there is a financial burden, the small business will be compensated for this? I suggest that some of the money seized may be used to make provision for businesses affected in this way.

I reiterate my support and that of my party for this Bill. However, I seek reassurance from the Minister on those issues to which I referred before it reaches the next Stage.

See this speech in context