Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 538: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the cost involved in implementing the voluntary code of practice for secure transit and handling of cash agreed with the Irish Bankers Federation; the breakdown on the spread of costs indicating the proportion of the costs borne by the State and by other participants; the initial implementation date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23950/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I welcome the signing of the code of practice to create a safe, secure and efficient cash handling environment in Ireland. The code provides an integrated end to end solution for cash handling that will encourage the highest standards of operation while having due regard to the circumstances of individual cash movements.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, I indicated that the full costs of this new code are not known yet. However, there will be costs for all stakeholders. For security reasons, it would be inappropriate to provide too much detail on how this money will be spent but it should be pointed out that a considerable upgrading of systems will be required by the major cash in transit security companies and by the financial institutions to comply with the code.

The Garda Commissioner is committed to providing resources for the setting up of a Garda technical advisory group which will provide the security competence and technical capacity to consistently and proactively assist stakeholders in identifying and designing solutions as required by the code. There will be no further resource implications for the State in implementing the code.

Implementation of the code of practice starts immediately and stakeholders have agreed to be fully compliant with all aspects of the code within 18 months.