Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister to the House and the annual report of the CAB, which was published earlier this week. It shows another successful year for the CAB in 2007 and it is vital this success continues. Many Senators referred to the recent deplorable and tragic events in Limerick. Senator Bacik mentioned that perhaps it was time to look again at the potential of putting on a statutory footing a witness protection scheme. I know the Minister is new in his job and the last time the subject was brought up it was with a previous Minister. I ask the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, to consider the benefits of putting on a statutory basis a witness protection scheme in light of current events.

I note the policy shift within the report disclosed by the CAB as it is now concentrating on middle-ranking criminals and seizing assets of lower value. Senator Boyle said that now all the Mr. and Mrs. Bigs have been caught, it is time to focus on the middle ranking people. The CAB's chief bureau officer, Chief Superintendent John O'Mahoney, said it is developing a higher visibility at a more local level, which we all agree with and encourage.

I commend the bureau's efficiency in making earlier applications to the courts for the seizure of assets so that criminals are prevented from disposing of the assets before a court case is heard. It appears from the Minister's speech and the report that the policy is working well. Last year €6.5 million of assets were seized and last week there was a seizure in Limerick. In addition, over €10 million of taxes, interest payments and penalties were collected last year and there was some success on the efforts against social security fraud. There is a potential take from the past year of almost €17 million, and all this was achieved with a staff of just 59 and at a cost of approximately €5 million, which is marginally down on last year.

Although I agree with Senator Boyle's point on the law of diminishing returns, it seems there is still an amount of money out there. We have not reached the point of diminishing returns yet. The efficiencies shown by the CAB are exactly those which we should target in other areas of public finances. As an example, we could do something similar with the road safety penalty points system as we saw a report in the Irish Independent this week that after six years, almost half the offences scheduled to be subject to penalty points are still being referred directly to the courts. Perhaps on-the-spot fines would produce more favourable results and would be a more effective usage of time, and perhaps those behind it could learn from organisations like the CAB.

The CAB annual report refers to the imaginative use of the Proceeds of Crime Act, which led to €3 million being returned to victims of insurance fraud in the United States following a joint investigation between authorities there and the CAB here. This raises a point advocated by the Labour Party for some time. If the victims of fraud in the US can benefit from the actions of the CAB here, surely our own communities, which are being blighted by crime and criminality, should gain from the proceeds realised by the CAB.

In reference to the annual report, the Minister stated local communities would be pleased to see the ill-gotten gains taken away from criminals, and I agree totally with that. They would be even more pleased if some of those gains were returned directly to the communities. For example, there is an ongoing problem relating to the maintenance and monitoring costs of community CCTV schemes. In playgrounds in such places as Dunboyne and Ashbourne there is much anti-social behaviour and even drug dealing at times. Putting some money from the CAB into community schemes such as CCTV would benefit the local community, and I ask the Minister to consider it closely.

My party is very supportive of the CAB and all it has achieved — we had a leading role in its creation — but it is important justice is served. In this respect it is worrying to see that last year the chief appeals officer was obliged to refer seven matters to the courts because the appeals procedures are somewhat inadequate. I am sure the area could be addressed by the Minister.

The Minister might consider providing more support in certain areas to the CAB, with international investigations being an example. It is a crucial part of the work of the CAB but in 2004 the Supreme Court found that the Proceeds of Crime Act does not apply to offences committed abroad. The bureau is still experiencing problems before the courts in this regard. Will the Minister consider the matter?

We welcome the publication of this report and congratulate the chief bureau officer, Chief Superintendent John O'Mahoney, and his staff on their efforts. We want them to become even more successful and, to that end, we ask the Minister to take on board some of the suggestions we have made.