Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree that we need to examine the way we deal with white collar crime in this country. It is fair to say that many people are very frustrated at how slowly the wheels of justice turn in many areas of white collar crime. Some of that is understandable because often what is being investigated in white collar crime involves files, records and all kinds of complex documentation which must be examined and a case made ready for prosecution. However, there is a well-founded view among the public that if one commits a white collar crime, one is not as susceptible to justice as someone who commits what is often referred to as ordinary crime.

The Government will consider what the outgoing Financial Regulator has to say on this matter and will respond to it but that should not be and is not a substitute for dealing with the issues of white collar crime currently under investigation and which have to be brought to justice. I do not want anybody to have the idea that we will have some kind of large overall examination of white collar crime and that this is something for the long distant future. There are issues under investigation. There are some issues that are before the court that I do not want to comment on for obvious reasons. An examination of the way we deal with white collar crime in this country and of getting a regime that operates more quickly and delivers justice and fairness in a more effective and transparent way is something we need to address, but that examination and consideration of the overall question of white collar crime must not be seen as a substitute or replacement for what is also required, which is the pursuit and the prosecution of white collar criminality currently under investigation.

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