Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the motion put before the House by the Tánaiste and the Fianna Fáil Party supports the change in the draft section 44 regulation that proposes to reduce the prescribed sum from the old sum of £5,000, or €6,349 as it is now, down to €1,000. It is very important that as criminality gets more sophisticated and diverse our legislation also shadows that and keeps in line with the changes in criminality that are taking place in our society. If our legislation and our regulations do not keep in line with what is happening on the ground, then we will lose the battle in respect of our contest against criminality.

It is important to look at how these provisions have developed since they were first introduced back in 1994, with the introduction of section 38 of the Criminal Justice Act 1994. That shows us how we can have effective legislation that can be used by the State in order to ensure that we can seize and capture assets that we believe are the proceeds of criminality. When section 38 was first introduced, back in 1994, it gave a power to a member of An Garda Síochána, or, indeed, a customs officer, to seize and detain cash they thought was being imported or exported from the State. At the time the regulation was introduced, it was set at a sum of IR£5,000, as it was then. It is also to be noted that at the time the measure was introduced, back in 1994, cash could only be seized if it was there was a reasonable suspicion that it was being used for drug trafficking.

Our law developed in 2005 when we amended section 38 with the passage of the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act 2005, which extended the powers available to the Garda Síochána and customs officers. Instead of gardaí and customs officers just being permitted to seize and retain cash which they thought was being imported or exported for the use of drug trafficking, gardaí and customs officers were allowed to search any individual whom they suspected was importing or exporting cash to be used not just in connection with drug trafficking but with any criminal conduct. It was important to extend our criminal law provisions at that time to ensure they went beyond drug trafficking and applied in respect of any criminal conduct. The amendment in 2005 was not limited to the import and export of cash into or out of the country and was extended to cash used throughout the country if it was believed that the cash constituted the proceeds of crime or was intended for use by a person in any criminal conduct.

It is very serious for a member of An Garda Síochána, a customs official or a Revenue officer to have the power to seize money from an individual, so it is extremely important we have mechanisms in place to ensure this power is not abused. Essential in this is honest policing, but it is also essential to have proper supervision of the powers exercised by gardaí, the Revenue or customs officers. There is a requirement that money seized can only be held for a period of 48 hours, beyond which it is necessary to get an extension from a District Court judge.

Ultimately, the public is entitled to know what happens to the money which is seized. Under section 39, gardaí, Revenue or customs officers must go before the District Court in an application made by the Director of Public Prosecutions and must establish that the money that was seized was being used for the purpose of criminal conduct or drug trafficking. It is important that the Judiciary inspect this power in this way. It will be useful in the fight against criminality on the ground in certain parts of the city. The way to defeat ganglords is to ensure they do not get the support on the ground from footsoldiers. For this reason it will be useful for gardaí to seize cash of €1,000 or more if they have a reasonable suspicion it is the proceeds of criminal conduct or drug trafficking.

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