Minister of State Catherine Ardagh discusses the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing with Justice Ministers at the Council of Europe
- Discussed the fight against financial crime
- Exchanged views on information sharing through public-private collaboration
- Considered the increased use of specialised and inter-agency cooperation to investigate all forms of money laundering
- Discussed the recovery of criminal assets across borders
Minister of State, Catherine Ardagh, with responsibility for International Law, Law Reform and Youth Justice, represented Ireland at an Informal Conference of Ministers of Justice at the Council of Europe today in Strasbourg.
The focus of the conference was on the fight against financial crime, money laundering and terrorist financing. This form of criminality increasingly impacts people across society and Ministers discussed challenges and possible solutions using legal, organisational and technological tools.
Speaking about the discussions, Minister Ardagh said:
“Ireland, along with our Council of Europe partners, recognise the increasingly transnational and complex nature of money laundering and terrorist financing.
“The exchanges today underlined the need for a coordinated, international response to effectively detect and combat the laundering of the proceeds of crime, including by closing any potential gaps that might be exploited by criminals. This includes taking a multi-disciplinary and increasingly specialist approach to investigating financial crime, an approach very much in line with Ireland’s Multi-Annual Strategy to Combat Economic Crime and Corruption which will soon be published.”
In the first plenary session Ministers exchanged views on the fundamental role of prevention, detection and intelligence gathering in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, including looking at new EU and Council of Europe structures that will help national authorities enhance their analysis capabilities through specialist training, tools and services.
While these new structures will play a key role in coordinating efforts amongst national authorities, the new package of EU anti-money laundering legislation allows for the establishment of partnerships for information sharing purposes.
Speaking about public-private cooperation in this area, Minister Ardagh said:
“The new package of EU anti-money laundering legislation allows for the establishment of partnerships for information sharing purposes.
“When information sharing is legally clear, technologically enabled, and strategically aligned with law enforcement priorities, financial intelligence shifts from being a compliance output to being a frontline crime fighting tool.”
There were also a number of round table discussions focusing on the “follow the money” approach to targeting the proceeds of crime as well as the recovery of criminal assets across borders.
Speaking about this from an Irish perspective, the Minister said:
“Depriving criminals, organised crime groups and corrupt actors of assets has been a central plank of Ireland’s approach to combatting economic crime and corruption since the 1990s.
“The Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill (2025), was introduced to update and strengthen Ireland’s non-conviction based asset recovery and confiscation framework by enhancing the powers of the Criminal Assets Bureau and streamlining the procedures for freezing and recovering criminal assets.”
ENDS…///
Notes for editors
Ireland at the Council of Europe
Ireland is a founding member of the Council of Europe (CoE), being one of the ten original signatories of the Treaty of London in May 1949 which established the CoE as the first pan-European intergovernmental organisation.
The current Permanent Representative of Ireland to the Council of Europe is Ambassador Caitríona Doyle who took up her position in August 2023. Ambassador Doyle is supported by a Deputy Head of Mission and a Justice Attaché.
Ireland last held the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers between May and November 2022.
Link to the Council of Europe website is available here - https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal
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