A strict new licensing system for cash-in-transit companies is warranted after a demise in standards in the industry of late and it will be in place in less than six months, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has said.
Any company found to be in breech of licensing standards would have its licence revoked.
Speaking after meeting representatives from the banking and private security sectors in Dublin yesterday, Mr McDowell was critical of recent lapses in security following a resurgence in armed attacks on cash-in-transit vans.
He said investment in safety equipment and procedures that had been agreed under a voluntary code last year had not taken place.
"For instance, it's a fairly obvious thing containers and safes could be used which would have the effect of destroying the money under transportation if there was a major incident and that is not generally the case in respect of some companies," he said.
Assistant Commissioner Nacie Rice told yesterday's meeting that Garda efforts to frustrate armed gangs were being "reinvigorated".
However, Mr McDowell said the banking sector had a corporate responsibility to provide adequate protection for cash in transit.
"It can never be the case with hundreds and hundreds of ATM machines around the country, that gardaí can be present at every transaction. There is no substitute for adequate standards in the cash-in-transit business itself."
Mr McDowell would speak to Minister for Transport Martin Cullen about allowing cash-in-transit vans to use bus lanes. This would allow for the speedy transportation of cash in urban areas.
However, the Private Security Authority, established last year to regulate the sector, had indicated to him that it wished to bring forward a system of licensing based on compliance to best-practice benchmarks. This could be in place by October 1st.
He had communicated his "strong view" to the parties at yesterday's meeting that, in the light of recent attacks, there had clearly been "very serious lapses" in security around the movement of money. He believed those present had taken this on board.
Most representatives from the country's biggest banks, private security operators and the Irish Bankers Federation left yesterday's meeting without comment.
However, operations manager of Brinks Allied Alan Jordan said many of the gangs who carried out attacks did so to fund their involvement in drug dealing.
"They have been denied supply [of money] over the last year . . . We carry cash and they want it."
Yesterday's talks followed an attempted robbery of a cash-in-transit van in Dublin on Thursday when raiders tried to ram the van using a 4x4 vehicle which had been modified to include a steel ramming girder.
