The anti-organised crime measures brought in after the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin have been praised by an important international task force and recommended as a model for anti-organised crime forces in other countries.
The report by the Financial Action Task Force was welcomed yesterday by the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, who said recommendations for changes to the anti-money laundering legislation were currently being acted upon by his Department and would be brought into law.
The task force singled out the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and anti-organised crime legislation introduced in the wake of Ms Guerin's murder for particular praise.
It said the CAB's seizure of suspected criminal proceeds had been "very effective" and it had operated the new laws in a robust and successful way. It noted that the reversal of the burden of proof, provided for in the legislation, had allowed the seizure of assets and that the onus was on the plaintiff to prove the assets had been acquired legally.
The task force also backed Mr O'Donoghue's proposal to include solicitors', auctioneers' and accountancy firms in the list of financial institutions which must report suspicious transactions to the authorities. Under the legislation, officials in financial institutions and businesses face a five-year jail term for knowingly failing to disclose criminal financial transactions.
The report is expected to lead other EU countries to follow this State's example on countering organised crime through asset seizure. The British Home Office is understood to be considering laws on seizure very similar to the Republic's. The task force's report follows a visit here in April last year to examine laws and policing structures. It had previously examined the State's anti-laundering structures in 1996 before Ms Guerin's murder.
Commenting on the publication of the report, Mr O'Donoghue said: "The . . . report clearly acknowledges that Ireland has put in place a comprehensive and very solid legislative scheme for combating money laundering.
"The report also makes certain recommendations for improvement and in that regard the report notes my intention to designate certain professions, including accountants, auctioneers and estate agents and solicitors by way of regulations under Section 32 of the Criminal Justice Act 1994.
"Designation will place certain anti-money laundering obligations on members of these professions; for example, the obligation to report a suspicion that their business is being used for money-laundering. The parliamentary draftsman is currently finalising the draft regulations and, subject to final consultation with the relevant representative bodies, I would hope to be in a position to sign the regulations by the end of June."
The Financial Action Task Force was set up after the G7 summit in Paris in 1989 to counter international money-launders. Membership of the task force comprises 26 governments and two regional organisations representing the world's major financial centres.