British government plans to seize the assets of criminal racketeers who fund paramilitaries in Northern Ireland are under threat because of lack of resources, MPs warned today.
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One of the caches of arms siezed from a paramilitary group last year
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A report by the Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee suggests that republican and loyalist paramilitary racketeering, drug dealing and other forms of crime was worth around £18 million sterling (€28.8 m) per year.
The report also complains that of the 100 personnel to be assigned to the planned Assets Recovery Agency, just 10 were being allocated to Northern Ireland.
It warns that without more staff the "high expectations" surrounding the agency are unlikely to be met.
"There can be no illusions about the worrying nature of the situation Northern Ireland currently faces," the report says.
"Paramilitary-related and organised crime is penetrating and corrupting society. The establishment of the Asset Recovery Agency could be a significant step forward in tackling the problem.
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"Yet the work of the agency, locally as well as nationally, looks set to be frustrated by the lack of proper financial support and commitment from the Government.
In contrast, the committee says, the Criminal Assets Bureau in the Republic has a staff of 45 with plans to expand even further.
The report highlights the way the paramilitaries in Northern Ireland are turning increasingly towards the formation of organised criminal gangs.
According to police figures, the Provisional IRA is the biggest terrorist fund raiser, generating £5 million to £8 million a year - compared with its estimated annual running costs of £1.5 million.
It is followed by the Real IRA which is thought to be generating £5 million a year, with running costs of £500,000.
Among the loyalists, the biggest fund raisers are thought to be the Loyalist Volunteer Force, with the ability to bring in £2 million a year, followed by the UVF with £1.5 million and the UDA with £500,000 to £1 million. Annual running costs range from £1 million to £2 million for the UVF to £50,000 for the LVF.
The "vast sums" being raised by the terrorists means they were able to afford "very extravagant personal lifestyles", with some now "entirely in this business to create a pension fund for themselves", according to the police.
Their activities include armed robbery, protection rackets, loan sharking, drugs trafficking, kidnapping and the smuggling of petrol, alcohol and tobacco.
They are proving so lucrative, the Provisional IRA is even reported to employ professional accountants to help manage the portfolio of property, assets and investments it has built up.
At the same time, black market trading by the paramilitaries is having a "considerable knock-on" effect to the legitimate economy, the report said.
The scale of fuel smuggling is so widespread - with up to 250 of the North’s 700 filling stations thought to sell only or largely illegal fuel - that 139 legitimate stations have been forced to close.
Some groups - particularly the Real IRA - has found their ability to exploit the economic marketplace in Ireland had reached its limits, so they are turning to Britain, the report says.
Police estimate that up to 80 per cent of the Real IRA's activity in Britain was now linked to "ordinary crime" rather than terrorism.
The pursuit of criminal profits even led to some cases of loyalist and republican paramilitaries working together, with one loyalist group found to have bought £50,000 worth of illegal cigarettes from the IRA, the report comtinued.
Efforts to bring criminals to justice however are being hampered by the low level of support available to witness support schemes, with insufficient funds to enable witnesses who face reprisals to establish new lives.
"The level of personal sacrifice required of the individual ... is unreasonable; it makes the individual and potentially his or her family victims twice over," the report said.
"It is not surprising that so few are currently willing to make a stand."
The committee said that its findings underline the need for the British government to provide the resources necessary to "root out" organised crime both in Northern Ireland and in Britain.
PA