§ 25. Mr. JoyceTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to tackle the financing of terrorist crime in Northern Ireland. [25654]
§ Jane KennedyThe Government's strategy for tackling terrorist crime in Northern Ireland is two-fold. First, the police must have available to them robust legislative powers. The Terrorism Act 2000 contains a number of financial provisions for seeking information and restraining assets. These powers were supplemented by the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, passed in the wake of the events on 11 September.
Second, in September 2000, the Government established an Organised Crime Taskforce for Northern Ireland. The taskforce brings together the agencies operating in Northern Ireland to agree crime types for concerted multi-agency action. The taskforce has published an assessment of the threat to Northern Ireland society from serious and organised crime, which assesses that approximately half of the organised crime gangs in Northern Ireland have links with the paramilitaries.