Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill 2025: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-15
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Victor Boyhan (IND), Agricultural Panel

So am I and I intend staying for a hell of a long time.
I thank the Minister for his ongoing engagement. I know it has been a difficult few days for the Government and for the Minister, who takes his responsibility seriously. I also thank the Minister's officials. I can say unequivocally that the Minister will have my full support for this Bill. I will not spend too long on this. It is the right thing to do. I want to acknowledge a few people before I say a few words about the Bill. I thank the Garda Commissioner and all of his staff. I particularly want to thank CAB for the amazing work it has done. It has been very difficult. We do not see or understand half of what is going on. However, we can take some confidence from the fact that agents of An Garda Síochána are working covertly and overtly on behalf of the security of this State, in liaison with Government and the appropriate contacts that are there. This is an assurance that we have. Throughout the State, An Garda Síochána has served us well. They are brave men and women who are highly articulate and highly trained, particularly in the intake of gardái in the last 20 to 25 years. There are equal opportunities in the force. It is a diverse force. It represents the people who live in our communities ethnically and culturally and all the diversity that goes with that. This enriches what policing should be all about. Core to this Bill is the fact that it is at the very heart of community safety and policing. It brings people to account. People hurt when it affects their pocket. After all, these are proceeds of crime. Let us be very clear what we are talking about and what we are dealing with.
I welcome the Minister's commitment to the community safety partnerships. They have been difficult to bed down. Some local authorities have had problems with them but since the Minister took on this portfolio, a lot of the things that were in abeyance for a long time have been ironed out. Some really able and capable people, many of them local authority members, signed up to the policing partnerships. Yes, they are evolving and I wish them well across the 31 local authorities in their important work. It is not only about elected people, it is also about leading stakeholders and people who are respected in their communities, in partnership. No one person has to be charged with all the responsibility. It must be cushioned and spread across our community, our community leaders and our stakeholders.
I am particularly impressed by the community safety fund, which opened on 13 April. We need to know more about the projects involved in it because we have to continue to sell the message that some of the funds from these activities will go into the community safety fund. I understand there is over €4 million currently in the fund. That is particularly good. Yes, we have a bit of work ongoing to tell people that they can apply for these funds and the criteria required. When people see the benefits of this fund in their own communities, they will get a sense of justice and a sense of support that the system is not all one way. For too long in the past, people have had grave reservations and a feeling that criminals have gone unhindered.
They are not going unhindered. We do not necessarily know the level of policing that is going on, but we can take confidence from what the Minister has been saying since he became Minister for justice. He is on the case. He does not have to be publicly on the case, when he is privately on a day-to-day basis. He is working collaboratively with people and I acknowledge that. The Minister will have my full support on this Bill.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-15