Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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341. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 290 of 3 December 2013, if she will provide an update on the cash for gold regulations. [40297/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As you may be aware my Department published a report in June 2012 on the criminal justice aspects of the cash for gold trade; this Report is available on my Department's websitewww.justice.ie. The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality and Defence were asked to consider the content of that report, obtain the views of all relevant interested parties and make such report/recommendations as the Committee deemed proportionate and appropriate in the public interest to the Houses of the Oireachtas and to Government. The Committee provided their observations to my predecessor in May 2013. The Committee's response made a number of suggestions to be considered in addressing this issue; it also noted that the advent of specific 'Cash for Gold' businesses was a relatively new phenomenon and that drafting legislation to regulate this sector would be complex.

The current position is that my Department has considered the views expressed by the Joint Oireachtas Committee and is currently drafting a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) which will comprise a detailed and systematic appraisal of the potential impacts of any proposed regulation in order to assess whether the regulation is likely to achieve the desired objectives and the potential costs that will arise. It is my intention to publish this RIA for consultation, once completed.