Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There was an interesting article inThe Irish Times by Conor Lally. It stated:

Gardaí have identified over 50 young people in and around one Co. Kerry town who were recruited as money mules for an international crime syndicate.

The Irish Times understands a young man from Munster is believed to be working for the crime gang as a recruiter and his reach into the local population, especially among students, has proven significant.

The recruiter, himself an Irish teenager, appears to have been very successful at convincing his peers to allow their bank accounts be used to receive money from the frauds carried out by the gang.

Garda sources said they were very concerned such a large number of young people in a relatively sparsely populated part of the Republic were so willing to allow their accounts to be used.

I raise this article in the context of this debate because one of the elements of this is the creation of a bank account register, as I understand it, and that register will provide information through a single access point, including names, IBAN, dates of account opening and closing, duration of the lease period in the case of safety deposit boxes and so on. The Kerry case is relevant to this. I do not want to sound like Pollyanna but the fear I have concerns young people, in particular. We have all made mistakes when we were young. We were foolish and did stupid things. People who make mistakes will be subject to the rigours of the law. Of that there can be no question or doubt. However, I am fearful that mistakes people make when they are young could follow them throughout life. How will this new database impact on those young people, for instance? Will their accounts and names be permanently listed on the database?

There is always an imbalance between the crime lords and the mules. The mules are always the first to be subject to the rigours of the law and the crime lords walk off into the sunset or Marbella or wherever they happen to be. I am concerned that there will be a disproportionately negative impact on people who found themselves in the position where their accounts have been used. If a crime has been committed, they are subject to the rigours of the law but, once that is done, if it is done in this case, I hope this does not follow them for the rest of their lives.

It is an issue that arose in the last 24 hours. I am hopeful there will be some clarity around how that case in Kerry would be impacted. It concerns teenagers who may or may not have done something stupidly or in ignorance. Some will know quite well what they were up to and know the difference between right and wrong but there are always people who will be led on and naive. I am fearful they could be forever blacklisted in any financial transactions they have. If they go on to lead good, decent and proper lives and hold accounts, I hope this does not follow them and they are not blacklisted by financial institutions or statutory agencies. I hope the Minister of State's response will provide some clarity on the simple questions I have asked.

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