Protest at delay in reply to crime inquiry

The leader of Fine Gael has called on the Taoiseach to make a statement about the time it took the Department of Justice to reply to a request from the Swedish authorities for assistance in an international money-laundering investigation.

Mr Bruton said the Department had taken at least 14 months to reply to a query from Swedish authorities investigating the involvement of a local investment company in a money-laundering operation.

Swedish prosecutors investigated the affairs of Trustor Precision Components AB after it was discovered that 620 million Swedish crowns (£56 million) were moved out of Sweden to Britain in 1997 and then dispersed to offshore accounts.

The Swedish authorities were interested in an account in an Irish bank in which £600,000 of funds had been lodged, according to RTE News. They also requested information from Britain, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. RTE reported yesterday that Ireland had been the slowest EU country to respond - Britain replied within two weeks and Luxembourg had taken two months to respond.

Mr Bruton said the Swedish Prime Minister expressed concern about the matter at the EU summit in Tampere, Finland. A spokeswoman for the Swedish Prime Minister told The Irish Times last night that the Prime Minister, Mr Goran Persson, had been unable to attend the summit and that the matter had been raised by officials from the Ministry for Justice at press conferences following the European Council meeting, which discussed money-laundering.

The officials had used the delays in the investigation as an example of the kind of situation that could be addressed by closer co-operation between EU states, the spokeswoman said.

On RTE Radio's News at One programme, Mr Bruton said it had taken the Department 14 months to act on a report from an Irish bank which reported a suspicious transaction. He said the State's reputation was being damaged "in an area of great importance".

The Department of Justice said the Swedish government had made no complaint to the Irish Government about the matter.