2170. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will devise a policy whereby payments made to the Criminal Assets Bureau, arising from the proceeds of crime, will be ring-fenced and made entirely available, via bursary schemes, to community groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55161/26]

2171. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will provide a full breakdown on the use of funds received by the Criminal Assets Bureau, arising from the proceeds of crime, for the period 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2025, inclusive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55162/26]

2194. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the estimated cost in 2027 if the budget for Criminal Assets Bureau increased by 15%. [55679/26]

2283. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to outline any changes to the Community Safety Fund for 2027; to outline any proposed changes to the application process; the funding that will be allocated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57060/26]

2301. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the value of assets seized or frozen by the Criminal Assets Bureau arising from operations in each county or Garda division in each of the years 2021 to date in 2026, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57397/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 2170, 2171, 2194, 2283 and 2301 together.

CAB is a multi-agency statutory body established under the Criminal Assets Bureau Act, 1996. I am advised that all monies seized by CAB are remitted to the Central Fund of the Exchequer after the appropriate statutory time frame under the Proceeds of Crime Acts.

I was pleased to secure an 8.2% increase on the Criminal Assets Bureau budget allocation for 2026. The Bureau’s budget allocation in 2026 is €13.8m, of which €11.25m is for Pay and €2.55m is for Non-Pay.

A 15% uplift on the Criminal Assets Bureau’s total budget would equate to €2.07m additional in funding. This would provide a total budget in 2027 totalling €15.15m.

I am committed to ensuring that the Criminal Assets Bureau have the powers and resources to continue their important work. The Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill is making its way through the Oireachtas currently. Once passed into law, the Criminal Assets Bureau will have stronger investigative powers and will be able to dispose of assets much more quickly than is currently the case.

Figures relating to asset recovery under the Proceeds of Crime Acts by CAB are available publicly in Chapters 3 and 4 of the annual reports published on the Bureau's website: www.cab.ie/annual-reports/ .

The Criminal Assets Bureau have advised that they do not collate statistics by County. Statistics for 2026 are not yet available and can not be provided at this point in time.

The disbursement of monies collected by the Criminal Assets Bureau is controlled by the Central Exchequer. However, the Deputy may be interested to note that the Community Safety Fund re-directs a portion of the proceeds of crime, seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and An Garda Síochána, back into communities in order to fund innovative local projects aimed at building stronger, safer communities.

In 2025, €4.4 million was allocated through the Community Safety Fund to 42 community safety projects nationwide. This represented a 33% increase on the €3 million awarded to 33 community safety projects in 2024. I secured a further increase in funding to €4.75 million for 2026, which is reflective of the continued success of An Garda Síochána and CAB.

The Fund has supported 127 community safety projects to date all across Ireland.

Putting this money back into the community is a tangible way of showing that there can be a direct link between the activities of law enforcement and building stronger, safer communities.

The below table provides a breakdown of the number of projects funded by the Community Safety Fund since it launched in 2022.

In 2025, the Community Safety Fund was transferred to the newly established National Office for Community Safety.

The National Office for Community Safety, an office of my Department, is a central coordinating body to the new whole of government, collaborative, problem-solving approach to community safety. The final elements of this new community safety infrastructure are being established including:

• The establishment of all 36 Safety Partnerships.

• The publishing of the National Strategy for Improving Community Safety

The National Office is currently conducting a review of the current operating model and criteria for the Community Safety Fund to ensure that projects funded in the future are consistent with the National Strategy for Community Safety and support the work of Local Community Safety Partnerships.