Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I indicated in my opening remarks, substantial sums of cash have been seized and forfeited under this measure. I put the figures before the House for people to consider, and the point was made by a number of Deputies that they are substantial. Very large amounts have been seized already and that has contributed, in no small way, to tackling the ongoing fight against organised crime and targeting large amounts of cash which, as a number of Deputies said, is the lifeblood of any criminal organisation.

By its nature any threshold, whatever its level, will always mean that some cases will fall far below it.

However, the existing relatively high threshold of over €6,000 means that there have been cases where the Garda or Revenue officials have come across very substantial amounts of money in cash, sometimes several thousand euro, and they have reasonable grounds for suspecting that it is the proceeds of crime or is intended for use in criminal conduct, but they cannot use this power of seizure. I thank Deputies for their support in lowering the threshold to €1,000. It strikes the right balance between limiting the power of seizure to substantial amounts of cash while at the same time enabling the Garda and Revenue officials to take more effective action against organised crime.

I have spoken already of the safeguards that are in place and it is important that they are there. It is for a short period before one goes to a court. It is part of a package of measures. Almost every Deputy has made the point that the issue of dealing with organised crime, and especially the drugs issue, needs a broader based response. This is one element which is a security and criminal justice response. However, we clearly need to be tackling the drugs crisis and the issues around it on many different levels including a preventative level. There is much work to be done and it involves Departments other than my own. The approach requires a multifaceted response and we certainly need to prioritise it, given the consequences we have seen from drug dealing and drug addiction. We need to put more resources into our treatment facilities so that when people want to get treatment, it is available to them. It is very important.

With regard to the surveillance legislation and the concerns raised by Deputy Paul Murphy, it is important that safeguards are in place. The Cabinet agreed yesterday to proceed with the heads of a Bill in relation to that issue. That would bring Ireland into line with other European countries. We are currently in a position where there are requests for such warrants coming from other countries and Ireland is not in a position to fulfil the warrants as we do not have that very basic legislation. I acknowledge the points made by Deputies about adequate safeguards being built in which will need to be debated when we are considering the legislation, including what are the kinds of safeguards people think we need to have in place. It is part of the debate around privacy and fundamental human rights versus the security issues about which, in today's world, we must be concerned in Ireland as well as internationally.

With regard to resources, the allocation for the Criminal Assets Bureau in 2016 was just over €7 million. There are a number of vacancies which will be filled presently. There is also the possibility - it is happening now - of people being seconded from the Department of Social Protection and from the Revenue Commissioners to work with the bureau. There has also been extra funding for Garda recruitment. Some €55 million was allocated to the Garda just a couple of weeks ago. All of this forms part of the resources that are needed to make sure this measure is implemented correctly and that there are gardaí in place to do that.

Deputy Catherine Murphy referred to certain kinds of cash transactions and obviously that should be dealt with under money laundering legislation. There is an obligation on people to report those transfers of assets.

I thank everyone who has supported the legislation. It is one part of a package of measures we are introducing and the proceeds of crime legislation will be before the House next week.

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