Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 23, after line 34, to insert the following:“Amendment of section 6 of Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010

26. Section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 is amended by

— (a) the substitution of the following definition for the definition of "criminal conduct":

" 'criminal conduct’ means

— (a) conduct that constitutes an offence,

(b) conduct occurring in a place outside the State that constitutes an offence under the law of the place and would constitute an offence if it were to occur in the State, or

(c) conduct occurring in a place outside the State that would constitute an offence under section 5(1)or 6(1) of the Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Act 2018 if it were to occur in the State and the person or official, as the case may be, concerned doing the act, or making the omission, concerned in relation to his or her office, employment, position or business is a foreign official within the meaning of that Act;".".

This deals with an outstanding recommendation made by the OECD to Ireland in the course of its third round evaluation. The amendment changes the definition of criminal conduct in the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, which deals with the offence of laundering the proceeds of criminal conduct. Members will recall that the OECD recommended that Ireland should remove the dual criminality requirement in respect of bribery of a foreign official as a predicate to money laundering where an offence of bribery took place abroad. The amendment will give effect to this recommendation by inserting paragraph (c) in the above amendment, providing that criminal conduct includes conduct occurring outside the State under sections 5(1) and 6(1) of this Bill that involves a foreign official as defined under this Bill. There is no requirement that the conduct is an offence in the place where it occurs.

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