Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 31: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on amending the law to allow the Criminal Assets Bureau apply to forfeit seized property after two years rather than the seven year wait; if he has an estimate of the additional revenue that would be raised if this change were made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31150/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Criminal Assets Bureau operates under the Proceeds of Crime Acts 1996 and 2005 (as amended).

Under this legislation, monies or property frozen pursuant to Section 2 or Section 3 of the Act remain frozen for a period of at least seven years. The only exception to this minimum seven year waiting period is in circumstances whereby all relevant parties agree to the application of a Section 4a order which allows for a disposal order to be made by the High Court within the seven year period. This application is made with the consent of all parties.

The consent provisions were introduced in 2005 under the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act of that year.

The issue of the standard minimum seven year waiting period being reduced to a minimum three year period was considered by the Oireachtas during its examination and discussion of the 2005 Amendment Act.

Taking account of the introduction of the new consent provisions, the approach taken in the legislation was to retain the standard minimum seven year waiting period primarily on the basis that a reduction of the period between the interlocutory order and the disposal order to three years might render the legislation more open to challenge in terms of due process.

I have asked my officials to review the legislation pertaining to the length of time an asset must be held before it can be disposed of. I have also asked my officials to examine this possibility with a view to ensuring that certain types of assets may be disposed of before they depreciate significantly.