Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Individuals who wish to demonstrate peacefully are absolutely entitled to demonstrate peacefully. We also, though, have a duty to ensure on the whole island of Ireland that if some terrorist group or individuals with extreme political ideology decide they want to launch an attack on world leaders attending the G8 meeting that we have the capacity to deal with issues that could arise.

I know Deputy Mac Lochlainn recognises and welcomes the fact that there will be similar capacity available to An Garda Síochána in the Republic as is available to the PSNI in the North. We must protect the lives of everyone on this island as best we can, be they world leaders or ordinary citizens going about their day-to-day lives. In that context this is an important provision and I very much appreciate Deputies being supportive of it.

I heard what Deputy Mac Lochlainn said about other issues. I can only deal with issues that fall within my remit as Minister for Justice and Equality. There are other areas of policy which are dealt with by colleagues in government. Where there is a necessity to introduce emergency legislation they do so.

I urge Deputy Mac Lochlainn not necessarily to buy in to narratives that are now taking place in regard to the areas of tax and multinational companies. The initiative the Taoiseach and Tánaiste is taking in Europe in dealing with these matters is of importance, and indeed a global initiative is necessary. In these areas it is not an issue, as some people like simplistically to paint it and as some outside this island are painting it in other countries, for our tax laws. It is about the global tax environment and the particular regimes which exist in other states that facilitate multinational businesses entering into complex financial and legal arrangements that facilitate their reducing the overall level of tax they may have to pay in the context of profits they earn.

This is not something we as a State can address singly. In fact, no individual state on its own can address this issue in the multinational area. There is no emergency legislation that could be introduced to resolve this issue. There is a need for a global approach. The initiatives taken by the Tánaiste, Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Noonan, at European Union level in providing leadership in addressing these issues during the Irish Presidency is of particular importance, and they deserve praise for the work they have been doing in regard to these issues.

I am conscious that we have strayed far and wide and I do not want to get into trouble with the Chair. On the issue raised by Deputy Collins, there are different figures currently floating through the media. In fact, the origin of some of these figures is not clear with regard to funds transferred out of the country. It is not, of course, unusual. Deputy Collins gave his own illustration in the context of people who emigrated from Ireland transferring funds back to this country. Deputy Collins detailed some of the figures that apply.

There are, of course, people living in this State who are earning funds and transferring them out of Ireland. These are issues that are a matter for the Central Bank. The Department of Finance has discussed this issue with the Central Bank which is looking into the matter. All of the figures that have been published in the media, I would say to Deputy Collins, may not be accurate. These are issues, of course, that I looked at.

It is very important to say that the general money laundering rules regarding identification of customers and the reporting of suspicious transactions apply to money transactions in other financial institutions. This Bill further tightens these rules. Section 2 reduces the threshold at which the identification of a beneficial owner must be identified in the case of occasional transactions by wire transfers from €15,000 to €1,000. The actual legislation we are amending provides the overall money laundering criminal mechanisms to address this issue.

In addition, Council regulation 178 of 2006 on information on the payer accompanying transfer of funds requires money transmitters to obtain basic information on the sender of any transmission of €1,000 or over. The financial institutions and those engaging in the transfer of financial funds must maintain certain records and continue with oversight. The Central Bank has a role in these areas and the overall legislation in this area is important.

See this speech in context