Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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162. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the amount of cash seized by gardaí in 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [15222/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, responsibility for the identification, tracing, freezing, and ultimate confiscation of criminal assets does not rest with a single organisation in Ireland and is spread across a number of different agencies and statutory bodies, not all of which are the responsibility of my Department. These include An Garda Síochána, the Criminal Assets Bureau, the Revenue Commissioners, the Chief State Solicitors Office, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Courts. It should be noted that in some cases, funds seized represent overdue/unpaid personal taxation.

I understand that, in accordance with the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Acts 1996-2016, the Criminal Justice Act 1994 and SI No. 418/2011 - Finance (Transfer of Departmental

Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2011, all confiscations relating to the proceeds of crime are transferred to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to be paid into, or disposed of, for the benefit of the Exchequer. It is from this central fund that the Government draws for expenditure on all necessary public services and investment, including for communities affected by crime.

However, last year I reached agreement with Minister McGrath to establish a Community Safety Innovation Fund to allow the money seized from criminal activity to be more directly utilised in communities affected by crime. The new Community Safety Innovation Fund (CSIF) will support the work of the Community Safety Partnerships and other policy initiatives of the Department of Justice in the areas of Community Safety and Youth Justice. The initial outlay of the fund will be €2 million in 2022 and is expected to increase in subsequent years.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that PULSE was examined to determine the recorded value of cash seized and the below table outlines the recorded value of cash seized by Garda region.

Recorded Values of Cash Seized by Garda Region.

It is worth noting that the information provided is taken from PULSE as of 22/03/2022 and is operational and may be liable to change.

For clarity, in a small proportion of incidents, the value of cash seized is recorded in the narrative descriptions. The figures above are based solely on records where the value is recorded in the specific value field. They should not therefore be taken as a definitive total amounts.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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163. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of additional gardaí that have been trained as divisional asset profilers in 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [15223/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is a multi-agency statutory body established under the Criminal Assets Bureau Act 1996. The Bureau’s remit is to target a person's assets, wherever situated, which derive, or are suspected to derive, directly or indirectly, from criminal conduct. Since its inception, the Bureau has been at the forefront of fighting organised crime in this jurisdiction and disrupting the activities of criminal gangs by depriving them of ill-gotten assets.

The Bureau is widely regarded as a best practice model in the context of combating organised crime. It works closely with law enforcement bodies at national and international levels and continues to relentlessly pursue the illicit proceeds of organised crime activity. The actions of the Bureau send a strong message to criminals and to local communities that profiting from crime will not be tolerated.

The Criminal Assets Bureau Strategic Plan for 2020 – 2023 describes the structure of CAB and its key programmes of activity to deliver its remit. CAB has trained a nationwide network of Asset Profilers to identify assets acquired from the proceeds of criminal conduct. The Bureau continues to develop specialist expertise and technology to trace and investigate these assets. It also continues to work closely with international crime investigation agencies, and has successfully targeted proceeds of foreign criminality from countries such as the US and the UK.

There are 552 trained Divisional Asset Profilers which comprise of 527 Gardaí, 17 Revenue & Customs and 8 Social Protection Divisional Asset Profilers operating nationwide.

I am advised that during 2021, the Criminal Assets Bureau delivered online training to an additional 100 Gardaí. A further training course to an additional 30 Gardaí is scheduled to take place on 24 March 2022.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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164. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of registrations that the Navan Garda immigration office is processing each week; the wait times for appointments; the current backlog in registration for the Navan office; and the opening hours of this office. [15224/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, registrations for people living outside of the Dublin area are processed by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) through the Garda Station network.

The Deputy will appreciate that the processing of these registrations is an operational matter for An Garda Síochána. The Garda authorities have advised me that in 2021 between Navan and Trim Districts a total of 2,017 people were registered, an average of 39 people a week.

I am further advised that wait times are currently between 1-2 weeks and that there is no backlog of people looking for appointments.

An Garda Síochána have informed me that opening hours for appointments are between 7am and 7pm and also evening appointments between 4pm and 12 am. The Navan office is not operated on Monday – Friday office hours and as a consequence appointments are often given on Saturdays, Sundays and evenings.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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165. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of registrations that the Ashbourne Garda immigration office is processing each week; the wait times for appointments; the current backlog in registration for the Ashbourne office; and the opening hours of this office. [15225/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, registrations for people living outside of the Dublin area are processed by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) through the Garda Station network.

The Deputy will appreciate that the processing of these registrations is an operational matter for An Garda Síochána. The Garda authorities have advised me that in 2021, in Ashbourne immigration office a total of 2,205 people were registered, an average of 42 people a week.

I am further advised that wait times are currently 10 days and that there is no backlog of people seeking appointments.

An Garda Síochána have informed me that opening hours for appointments are between 7am and 7pm and also evening appointments between 4pm and 11 pm. The Ashbourne office is not operated on Monday – Friday office hours and as a consequence appointments are often given on Saturdays, Sundays and evenings.