Ahern surprised one man could access up to €7 million

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has said he is surprised that one man alone could access and take up to €7million from a bank.

Mr Ahern was speaking after a being in contact with the Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy following a so-called tiger kidnapping in Co Kildare this morning.

Up to €7 million may have been stolen from the Bank of Ireland in College Green after the money was withdrawn by a bank employee while a woman, her son, and her mother were taken hostage.

Speaking to reporters outside his department, Mr Ahern said he was surprised to hear that one man could access so much money from the bank.

“When I heard of this initially that was the first thing that occurred to me when the Garda Commissioner telephoned me shortly after the incident happened,” he said.

Mr Ahern said he felt there is an onus on the banks to try and prevent these incidents in the future.

He said: “Not being critical of the people involved but I think there is an onus on the banks and the financial institutions generally to ensure any gaps shown from this particular incident are closed and closed very tightly.

“It is a fact that the gardaí didn’t know about the incident until the money had actually left the bank premises and under normal protocols that shouldn’t be the case because the sooner the guards can hear about this the sooner they can put in the necessary checkpoints.

“Time is always of the essence and that is why the procedures have worked before and there are some concerns in relation to the way this took place on this occasion.”

The Minister said he had spoken to the Garda Commissioner and Deputy Garda Commissioner at length about the incident and that he was “very concerned”.

“I would be less than frank if I didn’t say that there are issues of concern in relation to how this happened and how it was allowed to happen,” he said.

Mr Ahern said he had also spoken to Bank of Ireland chief executive Ritchie Boucher about the matter and that as a result of that there will be contact between the Garda Commissioner and banking authorities about their security procedures.

“There are issues of concern in relation to these procedures and the CEO of Bank of Ireland today issued an email to all of his staff within minutes of this particular incident happening passing on concern and sympathy to the staff but equally emphasising that there are very tried and trusted procedures in place that people should follow. These procedures are there for their safety and the banks staff safety and to ensure these incidents don’t happen.”

He said the reports of €7million being taken were “not far off the mark”.

“Criminals are going for the line of least resistance, the human connection as it were, given the fact there is so much detailed technology available to financial institutions the line of least resistance is the human being.

The Minister added that gardaí will sit down with financial institutions to see if there is anything that can be learned from the incident and to see if there is any other modus operandi that can be put in place to prevent it happening again

Mr Ahern offered his sympathy to all those involved especially to the family and the woman injured in the incident and he called on the public to contact the gardaí with any information in relation to the raid.