Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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483. To ask the Minister for Finance the steps Ireland will take with reference to the report of the UN High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity and the FACTI panel to ensure it meets the important recommendations to tackle illicit finance including international tax abuse. [18528/21]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I have noted the issues raised in the February 2021 FACTI Panel Report. Illicit financial flows drain resources from sustainable development, exacerbate inequalities, weaken governance and damage public trust.

The FACTI Panel has made recommendations for tackling illicit financial flows. As a long-standing member of the international Financial Actions Task Force (FATF) and an EU Member State, Ireland adheres to the highest global standards of Anti-Money Laundering/Combating Terrorist Financing - "AML/CFT" - and actively supports and implements measures to combat such activities. By engaging with the FATF and the EU on AML/CFT, and implementing its recommendations, Ireland will be addressing the type of issues that are the focus of the recommendations made in the February 2021 FACTI Panel Report.

The Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Act 2021, which transposes the 5th AML Directive, was enacted on 18 March 2021 and will be commenced in the coming weeks. While this legislation was advanced by the Department of Justice, my Department is progressing certain matters of relevance to financial services. These include: the establishment of a Register of Beneficial Ownership for trusts; a Register of Beneficial Ownership for bank and payment accounts and safe-deposit boxes; and the introduction of a registration and supervision regime, for AML/CFT purposes, for Virtual Asset Service Providers. The EU and FATF are clear and I agree, that all of these measures are necessary to combat financial crime and illicit financial flows, including those which have been discussed in the February 2021 FACTI Panel Report.

Furthermore, the latest FATF Mutual Evaluation Review of Ireland was conducted in 2017 and found that "Ireland has a sound and substantially effective regime to tackle money laundering and terrorist fiinancing". To ensure active consideration of current and emerging AMLCFT risks in Ireland's financial and non-financial sectors, my Department chairs the Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee, comprised of members from across many Government Departments and agencies, such as An Garda Síochána, the Criminal Assets Bureau, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the Revenue Commissioners. Currently, this committee is overseeing the implementation of an Action Plan to further enhance our AML/CFT framework, in accordance with the recommendations arising from the FATF review. Of 206 actions necessitating the consideration of numerous stakeholders, over half have already been fully addressed. These actions will further strengthen Ireland’s AML/CFT regime and ensure that mitigation measures are in place to protect against illicit financial flows.

Aggressive tax planning is a global problem and is best solved by global cooperation. In this context, Ireland engaged constructively in the BEPS process, and importantly we have reformed and modernised our tax code in recent years to effectively address aggressive tax planning. Ireland continues to work constructively with all 139 members of the Inclusive Framework on an equal footing to address these issues and build an international tax framework that is fair, robust, and sustainable.