3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Cab will be able to sell off crime proceeds within two years under new legislation
Currently criminals have a notice period of seven years from when an asset is deemed to be from the proceeds of crime until it is eventually disposed of by the State.
This means criminals or their families can continue to live in the property, or rent it out to tenants, during that time. It also gives them a period of up to seven years during which to appeal against a decision.
Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan will seek cabinet approval for the Proceeds of Crime Bill 2025, which has been many years in the making and involved consultation with Cab, examination by an Oireachtas committee last year, and advice from the Attorney General.
The laws will also give greater powers to ensure that criminals can immediately be deprived of the use of their frozen property. According to a briefing note, the laws will ensure the 'immediate and automatic appointment of a receiver once a judicial determination has been made that assets are the proceeds of crime to ensure that respondents cannot continue to benefit from those assets pending a final disposal order being made'.
The new legislation comes after Cab conducted an analysis of its cases and found that after two or three years, very little happens in relation to confiscation orders.
Mr O'Callaghan will tell the Cabinet that organised crime is 'a significant threat nationally and internationally and preys on the most vulnerable in our communities'.
He will say organised crime is 'driven by financial gain' and its estimated that criminal revenues amount to €110bn a year in the EU, and €1.7bn a year in Ireland.
Mr O'Callaghan is also expected to say that the 'confiscation of criminal proceeds is an essential means of combating organised crime' as it deprives criminals of illicit profits and prevents them from further investing in criminal enterprises.
Cab was established in Ireland in 1996 following the killing of the Sunday Independent journalist Veronica Guerin. It is a model that was followed in many other EU countries since then.
In 2023, the latest year for which figures are available, it seized €9.8m in illicit gains.
