Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has published the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) Annual Report for 2023, showing a record year for CAB in its goal of denying and depriving criminals of the proceeds of crime.
In 2023, the value of assets under proceeds of crime cases commenced by CAB ranged in value from €10,915 to €1,456,887. Proceeds of crime actions, together with actions carried out under Revenue and Social Protection provisions, yielded in excess of €8.6 million to the Exchequer in 2023.
Marking the publication of the report, Minister McEntee said:
“Eradicating organised crime is central to building safer, stronger communities. I am absolutely committed to that goal, and strengthening and expanding CAB is an important element of this. It is essential to deprive criminals of the proceeds of crime and 2023 was a record year for the Criminal Assets Bureau in this regard.
“The criminal activities targeted by CAB last year covered a range of areas that are damaging to Irish society and to the quality of life of communities across Ireland, including drug trafficking, environmental crime, fraud, theft, burglary, diesel laundering, money laundering and human trafficking.
“Areas of particular focus were groups engaged in serious and organised crime, property crime and rural crime. CAB’s impact on those who cause such damage to communities across the country by engaging in these activities is evident in the fact that it forwarded in excess of €8.651 million to the Central Fund during 2023.“In addition, CAB returned more than €1.2 million to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions arising from one specific case.
“CAB has also identified social welfare overpayments to the value of €3.315 million.”
Using the ill-gotten gains collected by CAB, the Department of Justice established the Community Safety Fund. This fund has been developed to reinvest the value of proceeds of crime seized by CAB directly back into communities which are negatively affected by crime.
€3.75 million in funding is available for local initiatives under this year’s Community Safety fund and applications closed in late July. Officials within the Department of Justice are currently processing applications and the recipients will be announced in the coming weeks.
Minister McEntee continued:
“Ensuring that people are safe and feel safe in their own locality so that communities can thrive and flourish is a priority for me. Community safety goes beyond traditional, high visibility policing. It requires a whole of Government approach, and it requires those within communities who know best the dynamics, strengths and challenges of their localities to work together to build safer and stronger communities.
“CAB do excellent work in disrupting criminals whose goal is to undermine communities. It is so positive that we can use the funds raised by CAB to reinvest in communities, which have suffered so much, with the Community Safety Fund. I thank all of the projects which have applied for funding this year and I look forward to announcing the successful applicants shortly.”
Minister McEntee will continue to support the expansion of CAB by 45% over the next 2 years as part of her plan to tackle organised crime. The CAB Strategic Plan 2024-2027 will expand CAB’s intelligence gathering and enforcement activities.
In addition, Minister McEntee is bringing forward new legislation in the coming weeks to strengthen CAB. The Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Bill 2023 will improve CAB’s ability to carry out its work.
Measures include:
- The reduction from seven years to two years in 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.
- Provision for immediate and automatic appointment of a receiver to deprive respondents of the benefit of the assets.
- The limitation of respondent’s ability to reopen the question of whether assets are proceeds of crime at the point of a disposal order being sought.
- Enhanced restraint and asset detention powers prior to the High Court process.
- Improved domestic and international information exchange powers
Eradicating organised crime is central to building safer, stronger communities and Minister McEntee is absolutely committed to it. Strengthening and expanding CAB is key to this approach.
