Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I support the Counterfeiting Bill 2020, which updates Irish law to reflect EU legislation in the area of counterfeiting. It is important and it is a good legislation. The purpose of the Counterfeiting Bill is to complete the transposition of Directive 2014/62/EU and to make provision for three additional EU instruments dealing with authenticity, the fitness of checking of euro bank notes and coins and measures for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting.

I note the Bill specifically relates to the counterfeiting of hard cash, both notes and coins, but it does not relate to online money laundering. Perhaps the Minister of State can confirm that.

I understand the Department of Finance and the Office of the Attorney General have worked closely with the Minister of State's Department to draft this complex but necessary legislation. The proposed changes in this Bill will give powers and functions to the Central Bank of Ireland to monitor and enforce measures relating to suspected counterfeit euro currencies. That is to be welcomed.

As I stated previously, the Bill does not relate to online money laundering, which is of concern. I took the time to look at the contributions of the Minister of State in the Lower House on this matter and I understand from some of the commentary in the Dáil that the Government proposes to introduce separately measures on cybersecurity, fraud, anti-money laundering and terrorist finances through other legislation. Therefore, it would be helpful if the Minister of State would advise this House of his intentions in relation to those issues. While they are not part of this legislation, they are related to it and they are important. Every day of the week, we hear about financial, money and counterfeiting crimes. It is a challenging area and a difficult issue. However, the issues of cybercrime, fraud, anti-money laundering and terrorist financing are important and need to be addressed. I would like to hear what the Minister of State's intentions are in relation to the matter.

Perhaps the Minister of State will also advise the House if he has requested observations from the European Central Bank or other stakeholders in relation to the substantive content of this Bill. Have they responded to any request that the Minister of State has made of them? If so, what has been the response of the Minister of State's Department to those issues? If the Department has not responded, I ask the Minister of State to confirm that contact has been made with stakeholders and that they have been invited to make a submission. If stakeholders have not made a submission, what steps has the Department taken to engage with them? Hopefully, they have responded and the Minister of State is in a position to share their response with us this evening. Certainly, I would hope their response can be shared with us between now and the next time this legislation comes back to the House.

I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank An Garda Síochána's National Economic Crime Bureau for its continued work, albeit behind the scenes. We do not know much about it but we know it is going on. I thank the unit for its work in challenging counterfeiting, and in particular, the payment card and counterfeit currency unit that is operating successfully. It focuses on tackling money fraud and counterfeiting crime.

This Bill seeks to update Ireland's legal and administrative regime in respect of counterfeiting. I support the work of the Minister of State and the key objectives and principles of this important Bill.