Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, for taking this matter. I want to discuss the use of cash for the purchase of property, including small parcels of land and sites. It is important that such financial transactions be evaluated, controlled and monitored, with particular attention needing to be paid to high-value cash transactions. I pay tribute to the agencies of the State tasked with the control of illegal money and money laundering. The Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, the money laundering investigation unit of An Garda Síochána and the Revenue Commissioners are leading the way on this but more needs to be done. At present, there are some safeguards in place under the regulations of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 to flag cash transactions such as property service provider declarations and business risk assessment forms. However, land is being sold for cash with no genuine account taken of where the money is coming from.

Over the past two years, I am aware of at least five separate sites being purchased in suspicious circumstances in my constituency. In most of these cases, the vendors were completely unaware of to whom they were selling. It has subsequently come to my attention that these sites are now being used for miscellaneous activities and outside the normal planning regulations. Auctioneers have sold four sites near Blarney and two near Grenagh to individuals with no connection to the area. The sites have no outline planning permission and, after sale, a change of use has occurred in each case without planning permission. The same endless saga of planning and forceful proceedings is instigated, which inevitably leads to little or no action. This is happening right across the Cork North-Central constituency.

This irregular activity must be questioned. In many cases, the source of the money used to buy the land is not accounted for because cash is used. It behoves me to ask why a person would buy a site with no outline planning permission and where there is no intention to build on it. Where is the money coming from for these transactions? The proceeds of crime have never been so great and the use of cash remains the primary means of transaction for criminals and organised crime gangs. At a time when the rest of society is moving towards cashless transactions, this leaves legitimate people and businesses vulnerable. Genuine vendors are unaware of who the buyer is, genuine buyers are being priced out of the market and the proceeds of crime are being washed with impunity.

I ask the Minister of State to undertake a review of the implementation of sections 38 and 39 of the 2010 Act and to promote greater awareness between stakeholders of the requirement to carry out risk assessments and keep the vendor fully informed. Will he provide an update on how many convictions for money laundering have been secured over the past two years? I also ask that regulations be examined to prohibit the purchase of property in this jurisdiction with a value greater than €5,000 without a tax clearance certificate. In addition, it is worth considering whether, in the absence of outline planning permission, a declaration of use by the vendor should be provided before a sale is concluded. Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a situation where a large number of criminals in Cork are purchasing land, which is currently the subject of an investigation by CAB. A number of sites have been reported to the bureau and investigations are ongoing. People from far afield, in the United States and elsewhere, are listed as the registered owners of land, as per the Land Registry affiliation folio, but those people clearly do not exist. As I said, these matters are subject to examination by CAB.

There is a lot going on in this area and it cuts across a number of Departments, including the Departments of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Finance and Justice. We need to have an open discussion on the issues and come to some sort of conclusion in terms of how we keep records of these people and these potentially illicit activities.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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On behalf of the Minister for Justice, I thank Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan for raising this matter. I am happy to clarify the Department's responsibilities in regard to land and property legislation. The Deputy mentioned a number of organisations, including CAB, the money laundering unit in An Garda Síochána and the Revenue Commissioners, as well as local authorities. As he rightly points out, this is also an issue that can impact across various Departments. The Department of Justice works to make Ireland a safe, fair and inclusive place to live and work. As such, our responsibilities include overseeing services for the buying and selling of property, namely, conveyancing and probate legislation.

The Property Services Regulatory Authority, PSRA, is the independent statutory regulatory body tasked with responsibility for licensing and regulating property services providers, including auctioneers, estate agents, letting agents and property management agents, some of whom the Deputy referred to in his comments. Under the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011, any business or individual that provides a property service, other than those who are subject to a similar licence or authentication scheme in another EU member state, must hold a valid licence from the PSRA. The requirement to obtain a licence applies to the sale, by whatever means, of land, including houses, apartments and other buildings, the auction of property other than land, including animals, art and antiques, the letting of land and accommodation, and property management services. It is an offence to provide a property service without a licence. The licensing of property services providers is intended to protect the interests of members of the public in their interaction with property services providers by ensuring high standards are maintained and delivered. For example, licensees must possess specified minimum qualifications, have available to them professional indemnity insurance and pay an annual contribution to the compensation fund.

As part of its independent statutory remit, the authority has powers to investigate complaints of improper conduct made against licensed property services providers and to commence, of its own volition, an investigation into suspected improper conduct. It also has the power to prosecute unlicensed property services providers. There are, therefore, key provisions in legislation in regard to complaints in this area. The Act does not provide that purchasers of property be tax compliant and-or that they be required to submit a tax clearance certificate as part of the purchase transaction. This is the essence of the point the Deputy raised. To reiterate, it is not a requirement to provide a tax compliance certificate to complete the purchase transaction. Typically, purchasers provide a booking deposit to an estate agent worth approximately 1% to 1.5% of the property sale price. The purchase of a house for €350,000, for instance, will require an approximate booking deposit of €5,000, which is held by the estate agent until the sale contract is signed. There is, however, no legal requirement for potential purchasers to forward a booking deposit to the agent. Instead, they may forward it to the vendor's solicitor.

The issue the Deputy raised relates to private third-party transactions involving the engagement of the services of a solicitor, matters for which the Minister for Justice has no responsibility. Tax clearance certificates and stamp duty, payable when property is bought, gifted or exchanged, are a matter for Revenue. Questions in respect of registered property and planning permission come under the remit of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and its agencies, namely, the Property Registration Authority, PRA, in respect of registered property, and An Bord Pleanála in respect of planning matters. As the Deputy stated, the matter encompasses a number of Departments. I confirm that a tax clearance certificate is not required to complete a purchase.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. I recognise that this is a difficult issue and I must be careful in what I say. I expected the type of response he has given. As stated, the issues fall between a number of Departments. The crux of the matter is that individuals are able to pay large sums of money, whether €70,000 or €80,000 for a site or much more for a house, and can, in effect, go to their solicitor or whatever representative is acting on their behalf and make a financial transaction far in excess of their means.

In this State, it is very difficult for us to track or trace where people are acquiring sites, land or buildings when they clearly do not have the means to do so in a legal way. It is worth examining this either through the Department of Justice or elsewhere.

The Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, only has the resources to deal with so much, but it is quite clear what certain criminals are doing. They are purchasing land and hiding money - effectively money laundering. Any of these are subject to investigation. They are doing their best to hide the resources they have in the hope that when their investigation with CAB concludes they can go back on their merry way and carry on with their illicit activity or whatever the case may be. This has come to our attention on a number of occasions in Cork. Deputy Gould and I have met people who are affected by this. I hope that in the coming months when CAB does its investigation, these people will be held to account. The matter merits further scrutiny by government.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I again acknowledge the remarks made by Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan in highlighting issues of major concern to many people throughout the country. In my opening remarks I was speaking specifically about tax clearance certificates, but this is very important. A PPS number is required for a deed to be stamped before the transaction can be completed. There are various ways that can happen. If somebody has a legitimate PPS number, that PPS number goes on the stamped deed to the Revenue Commissioners and the Revenue Commissioners have the authority to follow that regarding where the funds for the transaction came from. The Revenue Commissioners have the authority to follow up and every stamped deed in the State has a PPS number.

Any of these PPS numbers can be obtained properly and appropriately through the solicitor who is involved in the transaction, assuming every solicitor does the job correctly. They can get a client ID service a few weeks after the completion of the transaction if the purchaser does not have a PPS number in the first place. This can happen in two cases. For example, property may have been left by a long-lost uncle to a person who does not have a PPS number in the State. That person might be from Britain, the United States or somewhere else and have no connection with the State. He or she may be abroad, may be inheriting the property from parents but may not have a PPS number. Such persons can apply for a PPS number here in Ireland once they produce photographic ID, a birth certificate, passport details, etc.

If a business is buying a property from abroad and is not incorporated in the State, it must get a certificate of incorporation which can be done through a solicitor. The directors will need to apply for a PPS number in respect of that transaction.

In every one of these cases, there is a PPS number that Revenue can follow if it has grounds for believing there is something to follow up. It does not require a tax clearance certificate in advance. I have outlined cases of people from abroad who might not have had any engagement with the Revenue Commissioners but the Revenue will have a PPS number in all these cases.