Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

497. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the amount seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau in the years 2014 to date; the amount returned to the Exchequer; the amount of which was invested in communities, by year, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9150/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) works closely with Gardaí and all law enforcement agencies at national and international levels and continues to focus its efforts on targeting assets deriving from all types of criminal conduct.

The table below provided to me by CAB, outlines the assets seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau under Section 2 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 to 2005 and the amounts remitted to the Exchequer by the Criminal Assets Bureau for the period 2014 – 2023, the latest date for which figures are available.

I am advised that all monies seized by CAB are remitted to the Central Fund of the Exchequer after the appropriate statutory time frame under the Proceeds of Crime Acts (currently seven years must elapse from date of seizure to remittance to the Exchequer). Therefore, assets (including cash) seized in a given year are not remitted to the Exchequer in that year. Additionally, legal challenges may also extend the length of time from asset seizure to disposal and remittance.

Work on the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Bill is ongoing in my Department. This Bill will reduce from seven years to two years the time between an order being made that assets are the proceeds of crime and a final disposal order being available in respect of those assets.

Figures relating to asset recovery under the Proceeds of Crime Acts by CAB are available publicly in the annual reports published on the Bureau's website:

The disbursement of monies collected by the Criminal Assets Bureau is controlled by the Central Exchequer. Neither my Department nor CAB have discretion to where all monies are allocated.

CAB’s impact on those who cause such damage to communities across the country by engaging in criminality is evident in the fact that it forwarded in excess of €8.6 million to the Central Fund during 2023, which can be broken down as follows:

• €2.219 million under the Proceeds of Crime legislation
• €5.792 million was collected in Revenue
• €0.639m in Social Welfare recoveries

Since its inception, this fund has provided almost €7.8 million in total towards community safety projects. The amounts paid each year under this from 2022 to date in 2025 are listed below. They are also included in the attached file called Community Safety Fund Payments 2022 – 2025.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

498. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the allocation to the Criminal Assets Bureau in the years 2014 to date, by year, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9151/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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 has staff drawn from An Garda Síochána, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners (including Customs), the Department of Social Protection and my Department.

I have been advised by the Bureau that the below table outlines the latest available figures requested by the Deputy.