Lisa McDonald (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister. I am pleased to have an opportunity to make some observations on the success of the Criminal Assets Bureau. It is vital there is forceful and persistent action to deprive criminals of the benefits of their criminal behaviour. Prosecution and imprisonment are part of the risk criminals take. The prospect of being able to enjoy the fruits of their criminal activity at some stage is the cost criminals are prepared to pay to involve themselves in crime. The deterrent effect of the CAB cannot be underestimated in that regard.

Another important rationale from the report that has been published is the shift in policy towards targeting middle ranking criminals and lower value assets. That is reaching out to ordinary people to ensure they keep faith in their law-abiding approach to life and paying their taxes. It also illustrates the bureau's willingness to react to local community concerns. Above all, the bureau is involving itself in targeting the middle ranking criminals who live in our midst and that sends out the strong message that crime does not pay.

In the 12th report since its inception the bureau demonstrates that it has not stood still and has continued to develop. As crime becomes more sophisticated and criminals become better at hiding their assets, the bureau continues to identify new crime trends and in that way keep pace with criminals. I welcome the establishment of the bureau's analysis unit and the focus on the adoption of best practice in the area of forensic analysis through the employment of two financial crime analysts who will assist in that goal.

As the Minister outlined, one of the reasons for the success of the CAB is its multi-agency approach. Customs officers, tax inspectors, professionals, Garda officers and social welfare officials share intelligence methodology and approaches. The fact that no conviction is needed and that the standard of proof is a civil one are vital to its effectiveness. That was commented on recently by a spokesperson for the Bulgarian equivalent of the bureau who contrasted the Irish model with the Bulgarian system, which was slow in making progress to freeze assets and get the fruits of ill-gotten gains.

The report's conclusions refer to international co-operation and shared assets. Senator Hannigan referred to the case of the deceased American fraudster, Matthew Wallace Schachter, who lived in Ireland and who had been under investigation since 2004. That man defrauded approximately $24 million from US citizens through bogus insurance policies. The High Court granted the CAB an order allowing it to return Schachter's Irish estate to his victims in the United States and Canada. That was the first time in the bureau's history in which money realised in an assets action was returned to the victims of the person targeted. That is a little different to Senator Hannigan's point about money going back to the community. In that case, the money did not go back to the community; it went to the victims of the crime. It is important to make that differentiation.

The Government is committed to investing money in educational programmes for drug awareness and the installation of closed circuit television cameras. Work is ongoing in communities to find out their needs in conjunction with politicians, the Garda and joint policing committees. The funding for those programmes must come from the Central Fund. I disagree with Fine Gael's suggestion that we should ring-fence the moneys accrued by the CAB. I do not believe in a law of diminishing return but the money realised by the CAB will differ from year to year in accordance with the fines awarded and depending on how many criminals appeal. The report alludes to those matters. It is more important to improve community co-operation than just to allocate the money that accrues to a programme that might need more money than is realised in a given year.

The need for co-operation is highlighted in the report. Reference is made also to the benefits accrued since the amendment of the legislation setting up the Criminal Assets Bureau to allow for foreign co-operation. I look forward to further bilateral treaties on mutual recovery. We must focus on China, Japan, the Middle East and eastern European countries. If we can get co-operation with them, we can make real progress. I note that this is highlighted as an area for future work and I welcome that. The report refers to the need for asset sharing to be examined. That is an area the bureau will seek to progress next year. Shared assets will be invaluable to fostering enhanced co-operation for each jurisdiction in getting its share of the net proceeds of the forfeiture. In effect, there is something in it for everybody to set up the treaties.

I was interested to note that the bureau can investigate public officials. Is there any need, therefore, to continue with the tribunals that are bleeding the coffers of the State and which themselves have been scandalous, have wasted money, and have not used their own resources to the best of their ability? The bureau has 59 members and is an excellent example of value for money. I would welcome more invocation of this section.

The CAB was introduced when the traditional methods of police work were not enough to deal with the level of sophistication that had developed in the criminal world at the time of the death of Veronica Guerin. Much reference has been made to that fact today. Perhaps it could be looked on as a model in approaching the problems in Limerick that the heinous murder of Shane Geoghegan has highlighted this week. We need a strong response to that. When the CAB was introduced, many said we could not introduce legislation that had human rights implications. However, a strong response is needed. I wish the Minister luck in endeavouring to come up with a strong response to criminal activity in Limerick. Many ideas were put forward in the debate and on the Order of Business in recent days. I accept a solution will not be easy to find but I am confident the Minister will address the matter in the best possible way.

To date, the CAB has brought in €120 million though the proceeds of crime, €150 million in taxes collected and €2 million in social welfare. That money would not have been collected had it not been for the CAB. The overall scheme of deterrents offered by the CAB is of great importance in the combating of criminal activity.