Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I will share time with Deputy Ó Murchú. The vast majority of the money seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, has been ripped from communities in which the criminals have been most active. It must, therefore, be returned to these communities. I represent Dublin Mid-West and I grew up in north Clondalkin. Parts of my constituency have been ripped apart by drug use and criminality over the years. It is no coincidence that some of our most disadvantaged communities are those most affected by crime.

Years of cuts and stagnation in funding for community-based services by successive governments have eroded community resilience. Sinn Féin has always advocated that any money seized by CAB should be put back into the communities to rebuild resilience and enhance existing community services. My comrade, Deputy Ó Snodaigh, raised this issue more than ten years ago.

A response to a parliamentary question I tabled recently confirmed that CAB seized almost €65 million in cash and assets in 2019. This is a huge increase on previous years and it is very welcome news. If passed, this Bill would require the Minister for Finance to carry out a review of the financial supports required for disadvantaged communities affected by crime and to reinvest the money generated through the seizures of assets by CAB in those communities with a view to alleviating the impact of crime and enhancing crime prevention measures.

It is vitally important that additional money invested in our communities needs to be on top of allocated resources and not seen as a replacement to the normal funding channels. It does not happen by accident that most of the money seized by CAB originates in areas that are highly disadvantaged, like my own. In my community, the best deterrent to crime is early intervention, which leads to prevention. Pockets of areas in my constituency have been the victims of very visible criminal activities. These activities range from what is seen as low level antisocial behaviour to intimidation to open drug dealing. The people involved in this activity seem to be operating with relative impunity. This has given a sense of lawlessness to the people living there, many whom have been living there for 40 or 50 years or more. They have to put up with this behaviour every day. It is not good enough. There is a real sense of fear and abandonment in our communities. Residents report a lack of police presence in our areas, particularly at night-time. The dogs in the street know the hotspots in my area. In fairness to the Garda, its members react and call out to these areas. As soon as their backs are turned, however, these people go back to the criminal activities they were doing before the gardaí came out.

If the money seized by CAB was reinvested into community groups that could provide early invention to these young people, this could have a positive impact on all our communities. It could literally save these young people from a life of crime, addiction, prison and debt. Family resource centres, youth organisations, unemployment services, sports clubs, drug task forces and others - I could go on - that work in these disadvantage areas should benefit from this fund. We have all seen the documentaries about the glamorous lives these criminal gangs live, with fast cars, big houses and flash lifestyles. There are young people in my area throughout the State who are attracted by this lifestyle. They want the money in their pockets. They want the status and the brand new jackets and runners. If we could reinvest the money seized by these unscrupulous criminals, who are at the top of the pyramid, back into the communities in which these young people live, it could broaden their horizons and give them better options to escape poverty. They could move from being burdens on society to being productive members of our society.

Most things in life have a way of filtering down but dirty money also filters up. The money a mother borrowed from the credit union to pay the drug debts of her child flows right up to these criminal gangs. I have met parents who have been forced to pay drug-related debts their children had accumulated. These debts their children apparently owe to these unscrupulous dealers are frequently exaggerated and these parents end up paying exorbitant amounts back to these dealers for fear of reprisals. To me, there is a certain karma in knowing the money that came from the poor mother's purse would be returned back to the communities instead of funding the lavish lifestyle of these criminal gangs.

I have raised this issue before in the House and have had promising sounds come from the Government and across the Chamber. I would like to see cross-party support for the Bill.

See this speech in context