Like my colleague, I am fully supporting this amendment to the Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill. The amendment will make it more likely that the proceeds of crime are repurposed in the communities that are most impacted by crime. When I spoke on this Bill in July, I noted that any efforts that would deny criminals their gain from criminality are to be welcomed and that remains my firm position. It must be made obvious to anybody engaging in criminal activity that for those who profit, any gains will be fleeting and will be confiscated and returned, we hope, to the communities that have suffered and been damaged by criminality. There are many such communities in my home city of Limerick. The aim of Deputy Ward's amendment is positive as it seeks to ensure that the seized proceeds of crime are reintroduced into the communities that have been most impacted by these criminals. CAB has done a good job in identifying and recouping some of the proceeds of crime. The community safety fund, which I have spoken about previously, is extremely positive and does redirect money to the communities. However, I would say that, to date, not enough of that money has been redirected to those communities most impacted. That must change. In my home city of Limerick, we have some of the most deprived areas of the State. It is in conditions of deprivation that organised crime flourishes. It is in places where some people feel despondent that drug addiction becomes most prevalent. Vicious and heartless criminals take advantage and peddle their drugs to some of the most vulnerable in our communities. I understand why they do: the profits are huge. In Limerick, we have several criminal feuds bubbling in the background. Some relate to old family arguments but most pertain to the division of territory and the maximising of illegal profits from drugs, including crack cocaine. Those feuds have led to several violent attacks on property and persons. As I have said many times previously, it is a miracle that nobody has as yet lost their lives in these attacks. The communities most impacted by crime are great communities. I come from one myself. Some of the most wonderful and caring people reside in those areas. Criminal elements and those who seek to illegally gain profit do great damage to these communities. In an effort to exercise control, these criminals seek to destroy all that is good. A children's playground has become a no-go area for kids because one criminal gang has destroyed it and intimidates anybody else who tries to use it. Kids who want to do well in school, play sports and live normal lives are being taunted by the wealth of these often young criminals. These criminals drive around in nice cars, expensive trainers and top-brand clothes. They are often from families who do not work and never have. That sends the message that crime pays. That is a message we must always fight back against. The seizure of illegally gained assets, the seizure of properties purchased through criminal profits, is the most visible way of showing that this so-called success is only fleeting. This is a welcome amendment and I hope the Minister will accept it. It should ensure that assets such as houses can be returned to the communities that have been impacted by crime. On the Bill more generally, I am particularly hopeful that the provision to restrict and freeze the financial accounts and immovable assets in a timelier manner will limit the ability of suspected criminals to use these assets. It is satisfying to see the wealth returned to the communities through the community safety fund, and this amendment should assist in returning the wealth to the communities that the criminals originally took it from. Limerick and other areas face a significant challenge with crime, yet at the same time we have fantastic local community projects across the city that do some great work with limited resources. The Bedford Row Family Project does incredible work trying to break the cycle of imprisonment and crime. It could do with much more funding and increased resources through the community safety fund. I am not a member of the justice committee but I was with its members on Monday when we were able to visit Limerick Prison. The governor and other officials in the prison told us of the massive work the Bedford Row project did in making sure people did not reoffend. It is money well spent. The community safety fund for 2025 was positive for a number of organisations in Limerick, including the Moyross community centre, which got €150,000; and Our Lady of Lourdes Community Service Group, which got €135,877. These are two areas in what was called the Limerick regeneration area, which has come to a shuddering end and left many communities vulnerable without funding, as I have raised here before. Bizarrely, applications from the King's Island area were refused. It includes the St. Mary's Park area in the core of the city centre, the most disadvantaged small area in the whole State according to the Pobal deprivation index. As my colleague Deputy Mark Ward said earlier, some of our communities that we are doing our best to represent do not have the capacity to fill in the forms like other people do. Even if he is not accepting the amendment, I urge the Minister to look at the Pobal deprivation index and to consider measures whereby areas like St. Mary's Park are encouraged and helped to do the application, not to put in an application that often is not accepted. I very much welcome today's debate and the aims of the legislation. This cannot happen in isolation. We must reinvest in these communities. The State must engage with them so that we can limit the allure of a criminal lifestyle that, unfortunately, prevails in some of them.

Sentiment score: -0.03