GARDAI will be able to seek a court order giving them authority to inspect the records of financial institutions in criminal investigations under a Bill introduced by the Minister for Finance.
Mr Quinn said the Bankers' Books Evidence Act would be extended to allow the courts to make an order allowing gardai to inspect and take copies of financial records of credit unions, Stock Exchange member firms, investment intermediaries, moneybrokers, bureaux de change, life assurance undertakings and futures exchanges.
Mr Quinn was introducing the Disclosure of Certain Information for Taxation and Other Purposes Bill, which passed all stages. It allows for a freer exchange of information between the Garda, Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Welfare on suspected criminal assets and provides for a ministerial order to be made obliging solicitors, accountants and estate agents to report "suspicious" transactions by clients.
Mr Quinn said that under the Bill, Revenue officials would not be required to identify themselves, and they would be accompanied by a member of the Garda, who would confirm that they were officers of the body. Furthermore, the Revenue officials would perform written duties in the name of the body and not in their own names.
The PD spokesman on finance, Mr Michael McDowell, said the fact that anonymity and protection had to be guaranteed to Revenue officials was lamentable but necessary. He knew that in his own constituency there had been occasions when "heavy duty criminals" had done things to constituents which would normally merit condemnation by public representatives.
But he had to confess that there had been occasions when he had to consider carefully whether he should make a public statement because of the same feeling that Revenue officials had. "It is all very well to say one thing in public and issue a press release, but it is a very different thing to deal with a situation where you get an anonymous note about the route that your child takes to school."
The Fianna Fail spokesman on finance, Mr Charlie McCreevy, welcomed the Bill but said its success would depend on the motivation of officials. He disagreed with Mr McDowell's amendment to the Bill, permitting the reopening of tax amnesty cases where there were reasonable grounds to suspect that the monies laundered through the amnesty were the proceeds of crime. Mr McCreevy said it had never been the intention to provide an amnesty the assets of criminals.
Defending his proposal, Mr McDowell urged deputies to consult tax amnesty legislation, adding it was fine on paper but the apparent safeguard that people who obtained their money unlawfully could in theory be investigated was much less safe than it appeared.
Mr Quinn said he did not see the need for Mr McDowell's amendment, nor was he as pessimistic as the PD deputy about dealing with the cases he had in mind. The amnesty legislation specifically denied its benefit in cases of false declaration, whether in respect of the amount or the source of the income. Mr McDowell did not press the amendment.