Commissioner Kelly

"Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Ruhama CEO Barbara Condon, Ruhama Ambassador Ms Frances Fitzgerald, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

It is my privilege to open Ruhama’s international conference this morning and to join you for what promises to be a very informative and insightful schedule of events.

As Barbara has just outlined, there are a number of key themes and challenges being explored throughout today’s conference culminating in the launch of Ruhama’s 2024 Annual Report.

And later, you will hear in more detail from Detective Chief Superintendent Colm Noonan in respect of the work that we are doing in regards to sexual exploitation in An Garda Síochána.

For now, what I propose to do in opening this conference is to touch briefly on some of the key themes of today’s event - namely:

1. How An Garda Síochána, through our work with Ruhama, is meeting the challenges in Ireland today in respect of sexual violence and exploitation
2. What measures and initiatives we have put in place to support those who are victims of sexual violence and exploitation and
3. How emerging technology is changing the landscape of offending behaviours.

Before I go into these I do want to remind ourselves why we are here having these discussions and exploring emerging crimes perpetrated predominantly against women.

It is because we know, despite low reporting, that there are significant numbers of individuals in our society who find themselves in need of the support of Ruhama and ourselves in An Garda Síochána.

There are women, children, and men in our cities, towns and villages across the country who find themselves being exploited, trafficked, or subjected to violence of various kinds including sexual violence.

These crimes are evolving and coming more to the fore, as we have seen in our need to legislate for the offence of non-fatal strangulation. This is something that since its commencement has seen us prosecute in the region of 60 cases to date.

We are also here today not to judge. Not to criticise. But to reach out a hand of friendship and support.

We all share in a common goal to reduce harm and provide a pathway to safety for those trying to escape such abuse.

This is because no person should suffer physical or psychological harm at the hands of another.

1. Collaboration with Ruhama

This brings me to the important work that Ruhama does, and how we complement each other in our mission of keeping people safe.

An Garda Síochána through its Organised Prostitution and Human Trafficking Investigation Units has a strong working relationship with Ruhama. This has been built over years of joint collaboration in the area of prostitution and sexual exploitation in the prostitution trade.

Together we have worked in partnership on a number of excellent initiatives aimed at providing advice, support and assistance to some of the most vulnerable people in society.

One of these is our monthly days of action where we carry out welfare visits with those engaged in the sex trade. During these visits, Ruhama provide safety packs, advice and support.

This initiative has been running for two years now and has proven positive, building trust, and has been shown to improve our engagement.

This close working relationship has also led to the development of awareness raising initiatives, such as the public information campaign conducted at Dublin Airport earlier this year.

This sees us distribute leaflets highlighting key supports at main transit routes for victims of these types of crime.

This is a great example of the State and NGOs working together with Ruhama - The Woman’s Health Service and Anti-Human Trafficking Teams within the HSE, The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Border Management Unit all collaborating.

It is proposed that this initiative will become more regular and extend to other transit hubs across the country.

The Organised Prostitution Investigation Unit and Ruhama also conduct joint training with Gardaí around prostitution and trauma associated with the prostitution trade. While, personnel in the Border Management Unit in Dublin Airport, and the PSNI have also participated in the training.

2. Strategies to tackle organised prostitution and human trafficking

As sex trafficking and prostitution are very closely linked, An Garda Síochána’s Organised Prostitution and Human Trafficking Investigation Units pursue a number of strategies when approaching their investigations. The safety and welfare of potential

victims is paramount in the pursuit of offenders and the transnational organised crimes gangs that are engaged in this heinous crime.

We work very closely with our counterparts internationally as well as with Europol and Interpol, collaborating to dismantle and disrupt International Organised Crime Gangs that have a footprint in Ireland.

One of the key challenges we encounter is the under-reporting of this type of crime and that is why we work so closely with organisations like Ruhama, because there remains a fear and stigma about engaging with An Garda Síochána.

There are many factors that are likely to contribute to this: fear of not being believed; fear of those in their network; a lack of trust in the justice system and law enforcement in their home country which carries over to their trust in law enforcement in Ireland. But there is also an emerging normalisation of violence and sexual violence against women in our society.

While it is particularly difficult to quantify or capture reliable data around the extent of under-reporting or indeed to measure successes, Ruhama’s 2024 Annual Report speaks to an increase in demand for services, with support provided to 1,128 individuals in 2024. [75% increase on 2023].

Through the work being done on the ground and through our engagement, our teams are noticing increases in those who do come forward to report. And this speaks to a significant increase in trust as a result of our liaison service.

I might also turn your attention to another area which is having further impacts in the area of Domestic Sexual and Gender based violence, and that is the impact of extreme pornography on violence against women.

Women’s Aid and The Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy Institute last year released its report highlighting this important issue.

Its key finding being “the commercial sex trade, including both porn and prostitution, is a multibillion-euro business seeking to normalise extreme acts and promote the dehumanisation of women and girls”.

It found the normalisation takes place by exposing men and boys through pornographic material to extreme and often violent sex, putting them at risk of perpetrating criminal sexual acts.

This is something that is an emerging issue, and presents challenges for society as a whole, and there are, of course, huge amounts of money made from this enterprise.

It is an area that is having a very corruptive influence on our young people who view this – both men and women – who are led to believe this is normal and almost expected behaviour in a sexual encounter.

3. AI – Technological advances

It is also true to say that emerging technologies present us with further challenges. We have for instance seen Generative AI, such as image generation or alteration, allowing for more realistic ‘Deepfakes’ to be created. And these are becoming contributing factors in cases of harassment offences and ‘revenge porn’.

Previously Deepfakes could be easily shown to be fake due to unrealistic features, but what we are now seeing is modern AI tools can provide more photo-realistic results. While voice syntheses and video generation have also evolved significantly, and pose additional threats.

Similar to what we see in economic crime, AI tools can also be used to lower defences and build trust between an offender and their target.

For instance, AI tools support the creation of believable social media accounts and website platforms. All these tools can assist offenders in targeting vulnerable victims for exploitation.

Conclusion

Just before I conclude, I might just briefly touch on the last conference theme which related to men’s role in ending violence against women and girls.

And in my opinion, I do feel men’s voices speaking in condemnation of such acts by their peers has an important place in this conversation.

It is why I have chosen to conclude with a quote from former US President and humanitarian Jimmy Carter who, in his 2013 address marking the international day for the elimination of violence against women said, “The abuse of women and girls is the most pervasive and unaddressed human rights violation on earth”.

Finally, events such as this one, exploring available research and providing meaningful discussion, give voices to those women and children who struggle to reach out and share their experiences.

They are the lost voices in this conversation and it is important to have days like today, where we can be that voice and advocate on their behalf.

Thank you."

Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan; Minister of State Kevin  Boxer Moran, colleagues, retired members,

You are very welcome to Athlone today for the official opening of our Garda Water Unit facility here at Garycastle, where our Athlone unit has been based since December 2020.

In addressing you here today I hope to touch on the great work that the Garda Water Unit does to support us in An Garda Síochána and communities right across the country.

The Garda Water Unit consists of two operational teams – one here in Athlone and the other based in Dublin.

The unit provides operational support to other Garda units and outside agencies in the area of search and recovery of persons and evidence in marine environments.

History of the Garda Water Unit

Established more than 50 years ago, the Garda Sub-Aqua Unit – as it was called then – began with a small group of experienced Garda leisure divers, who began by learning on the job. But as the years went on training, expertise, improved equipment and technological advances would significantly develop the unit’s capabilities.

Not long after it was formed, the unit was deployed following what is considered to be one of the deadliest tragedies in our nation’s history – the Whiddy Island disaster.

On January 8, 1979, fifty lives were lost when the French-owned oil tanker, the Betelgeuse, caught fire and exploded at a jetty at Whiddy Island in Bantry Bay.

Working with members of the Naval Service Diving Section in wintry conditions the Garda Sub Aqua Unit searched for the bodies of those lost for approximately three weeks at significant depths. 21 personnel were recovered from the

Coincidentally, on this day, these five retired Gardaí will be honoured at an event at the Irish Naval Base in Howlbouline this evening, for their role in the search and recovery operation.

The Garda Water Unit here in Athlone was initially established in 2000 and was located at the back of Athlone Garda Station. In 2019 it moved to Clonark Garda Station and so, the need for a new building was identified many years before this allocation.

While allowing for this expansion, and development of this facility,

the unit remained adaptable and professional to ensure the organisational needs and requirements were met at all times.

They continued to provide an integral service to the community that they serve and the colleagues they support.

Garda Water Unit Today

Available to deploy 365 days a year, the unit works very often in extremely challenging conditions, in the cold, at significant depths.

The unit is regularly requested for investigations relating to murders, serious crime, missing persons and evidence recovery.

In addition to underwater searches, the unit is also requested to carry out surface patrols throughout the country and the Irish coastline. This involves the enforcement of marine legislation and the policing of major events taking place on or near the water. 

They also work to assist other agencies, such as the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, or the Air Accident Investigation Board, and responded when Rescue 116 crashed off Black Rock island in Mayo in 2017.

The Unit is also deployed for VIP visits, but primarily their work involves the search and recovery of persons and evidence from the water.

Sometimes these operations can take weeks, but such is the commitment of the team, the unit does all it can for the families involved. 

Our Garda Water Unit is extremely dedicated to this important work, often deployed at short notice, working unsociable hours and the nature of the work often requires them to be away from home for a number of days at a time.

Of course while the work is difficult, it has to be said there is great meaning in the role our Gardaí play in this unit.

While it often means the recovery of someone from the water, there is a comfort that this brings to families suffering a loss that they can have that person returned to them.

This is the commitment our teams give to minimise the pain of others.

The New Facility

Our new facility here in Athlone consists of three units which house all the specialist equipment required.

We are very grateful to the Office of Public Works for delivering a modern building that caters for the unique requirements of the Garda Water Unit.

The building is ideally situated with access to an excellent road network, while also being able to moor its boat and carry out training.

Although up and running for a while already, I know it is one that will continue to give back to the public and I wish all those working here every success for the future.

And so before I conclude I’d like to take this opportunity to mention retired Sergeant Liam Grimes, who unfortunately is unable to attend today but whose long contribution to the Water Unit is appreciated and valued by so many of you here today.

I also want to acknowledge those who assist the unit in an everyday practical capacity. I know many of them are here today, who assist in the storage, mooring and maintenance of the boats here at Garycastle.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you.

 

Chair, Committee Members

Thank you for the invite to meet with you.

I was honoured to be appointed Garda Commissioner on September 1st this year. As someone who started their career on the beat in Dublin, it is a privilege to lead this great organisation that does incredible work every day to keep people and this nation safe.

You have asked me to speak about my priorities as Commissioner.

These include:

• - Meeting the Government commitment to recruit 5,000 Gardaí over the next five years
• - Increasing Garda visibility in cities and urban locations based on our successful high visibility policing initiative in Dublin city centre
• - Providing Gardaí with the tools they need to do their jobs safely and effectively including body-cams and a trial of tasers
• - Providing re-assurance to rural communities
• - Tackling crimes such as anti-social behaviour and drug dealing that impact on local communities, which are usually, but not exclusively, disadvantaged
• - Improving our service to victims, particularly victims of domestic abuse
• - Enhancing our roads policing response to fully play our part in making our roads safer
• - Protecting this country from increasingly sophisticated national security threats
• - Meeting the significant policing and security obligations during EU Presidency, while maintaining day-to-day policing

Increasing Garda Numbers

There are currently 14,325 Gardaí and 3,650 staff (as of 31 September 2025).

Following a difficult period for recruitment due to the pandemic, An Garda Síochána now has momentum in hiring Gardaí.

We are making good progress towards the commitment in the Programme for Government to hire 5,000 Gardaí over the next five years, and grow the overall size of the organisation including Garda reserve and Garda staff numbers.

There are now 200 more Gardaí than this time last year, andour pipeline for growth this year and next is also strong.

For instance:

• - An additional 190 Gardaí will go to stations across the country from Friday of this week
• - Over 220 Garda trainees will enter the College on Monday week – this is our biggest class in the last 10 years. This was possible because of the work we have done to improve the recruitment process and increase capacity in the College
• - This will bring the overall number of trainees who entered the Garda College in 2025 to 800
• - Our resignation level of 1 per cent is well below other police services and the private sector.
• - More Gardaí are staying longer, enabling us to retain their skills and experience, and we are even seeing a small number of Gardaí re-joining who had resigned
• - Over 11,000 applications to the two Garda recruitment competitions held this year
• - The diversity of applicants in terms of age, gender and ethnicity is positive, but there is more work to be done in this area.

We believe that with additional capacity in the Garda College, an operational training centre, and continued improvements to the recruitment process, the five-year target can be met. As the Department of Justice’s Garda Recruitment and Training Capacity Group said, it will be challenging, but it is achievable.

Increasing Garda Visibility

The increasing Garda numbers means we can increase Garda visibility, with a focus on key urban locations. An Garda Síochána must play its part to ensure people feel safe to work and socialise in our towns and cities.

The public and business community have already seen the benefits of our Dublin City Centre High Visibility Policing initiative with increases in detections of anti-social behaviour (up 18%), drunkenness (up 67%) and drugs for sale or supply (up 3%).

Many crimes are down such as theft from person (down 28%) robbery from an establishment (down 9%), begging (down 57%) and assaults causing harm (down 17%).

We are currently examining where to expand it further in Dublin.

We will also be replicating this initiative in our cities and major urban centres.

Cork city will be next.

It is resource intensive so when we introduce high visibility, it must be sustainable. This is not for a weekend or a particular time of the year, it is for the all-year round.

Protecting Rural Communities

Crime levels in our rural communities are generally low, but that does not mean they are immune from crime nor especially the fear of crime, particularly among people who may feel isolated and vulnerable.

Our anti-burglary operation, Operation Thor, has significantly reduced burglaries, particularly in rural areas that were being targeted by gangs.

Residential burglary during the winter, when it traditionally peaks, has fallen by 75% since Operation Thor’s introduction 10 years ago and that work is continuing.

In addition, under the Department of Justice’s Rural Safety Plan we recently appointed a Superintendent as our first Rural Crime Lead. The Superintendent will work with a range of farming and rural bodies, as well as the Rural Crime Safety Forum, to co-ordinate efforts to prevent and detect crime in rural Ireland.

Supporting Gardaí

There has been significant investment in protective equipment, training and vehicles for Gardaí over the last two years, particularly since the Dublin riots of November 2023.

This has included:

Stronger incapacitant spray for all front-line Gardaí

A safety helmet for front-line Gardaí

The roll-out of body-cameras in Dublin, Limerick and Waterford 

Larger incapacitant spray canisters and round shields for public order units

The purchase of water cannons

We saw the immense benefit of this investment recently at City West.

We have also continued to modernise the front-line uniform. This has included the introduction of a baseball-cap, and in the coming weeks, new footwear.

We are constantly enhancing our mobility device for Gardaí to provide them with more information and enforcement tools while on patrol.

And we have never had a larger fleet of vehicles, with investment of over 85 million euros in fleet since 2020.

I am determined to ensure Gardaí have the tools, equipment and skills they need to do their jobs effectively and protect themselves, particularly given the recent rise in abhorrent attacks on Gardaí for simply doing their jobs.  

Conclusion

Finally, I want to thank all the Gardaí, Reserves and Staff who every day contribute to keeping people and this nation safe.

A great example of this was the professionalism, dedication and bravery demonstrated by Gardaí in dealing with the significant and sustained violence against them at the City West complex.

On those two nights, An Garda Síochána showed how it will not tolerate such thuggery, and our determination to keep people and communities safe from those who seek to undermine our democratic and peaceful society.

Thank you.

Good morning,

It is my great pleasure to be here today and I’d like to thank the Centre for Cross Border Cooperation for the invitation to address you in respect of how we combat economic crime on the island of Ireland.

I’m also delighted to be joined in this discussion by Chief Constable Jon Boucher, my good friend and colleague.

It has to be said at the outset that so much of the crime we investigate in this space is transnational in nature.

Organised crime groups operate in a modern world where the internet, social media, and ease of travel ensure greater connectivity than ever before.

In February of this year Deloitte released its Digital Consumer Trend report, where it revealed that nearly every adult in Ireland, 95%, now owns a smartphone.

Of the 1,000 adults it surveyed as part of this study almost half of them said they now use their smartphone or smartwatch to pay for goods and services in-store through digital wallets.

For almost 75% of people surveyed their phone is used as soon as they wake up, while more than half of those are on their phones staying up later than planned because of their devices.

Such is our reliance on these devices, and the trust we place in the information we receive via our phones and the internet, the more we open ourselves up to others.

This, it has to be said, can be a good thing, but it also makes each of us more accessible to those who seek to exploit our trust. It can make every individual vulnerable and a potential target.

Our use and reliance on mobile smart devices, is one of the reasons for the significant growth we see in the area of economic crime and fraud. This accessibility does make it easier and more lucrative for criminals who in turn build enterprises dedicated to it.

The mechanisms used to defraud people have evolved, and so too must we in how we navigate these changes and pursue those who seek to exploit others for their own ill-gotten gain.

What I hope to do in speaking with you today is to give you an overview of our Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, what it is they do, and then I’ll discuss the types of economic crime we investigate and commonly see in the Republic of Ireland.

I hope to also address how we engage with the business community in combatting it, and also highlight the collaborative approach we have with our partners in the PSNI in this space.

Finally, I hope to leave you with some of our more notable successes in this area.

The work of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau

The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) (formerly known as the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation) was established in 1995. 

The Bureau is headed up by a Detective Chief Superintendent and is overseen by the Assistant Commissioner, Organised and Serious Crime.  It is a national unit and provides specialist support and guidance to our network of economic crime investigators. There are 113 Gardaí attached to it, and 22 Garda Staff.

The unit has two Detective Superintendents and three Detective Inspectors who have responsibility for the management of the 10 units within the Bureau. 

The role of the bureau is:

• To investigate serious and complex economic crimes.
• To investigate financial crimes which are of major public concern.
• To provide support and assistance to local and regional investigators.
• To investigate all cases of foreign bribery and corruption.

In addition to this, it acts as a central repository for economic crime related intelligence, and plays a proactive role in the prevention and detection of economic crime.

Economic crime encompasses a broad set of offences involving financial wrongdoing, deception, abuse of power or misuse of business/government systems for financial gain.

Here this includes commercial fraud, money‑laundering, computer crime, breaches of the Companies Acts etc…

It can:

• involve a financial or economic advantage/gain to the perpetrator or their associates (theft, deception)
• misuse of business, financial or public systems (fraud, false accounting, corruption, money laundering, competition/market abuse, etc.)
• often crosses domestic/international boundaries (e.g., illicit financial flows, cross‑border transactions)
• involve both private and public sectors, and may undermine public confidence, distort markets, damage the State’s reputation.

Given the increasing volume and complexity of economic crime in Ireland (and globally), the bureau’s role is essential, and demands on it are rising.

The cost of economic crime in the Republic of Ireland

It has been estimated that economic crime costs the Irish economy around €2 billion per year.

However, it is extremely difficult to quantify the total cost of all economic crime in Ireland. Having looked at the recorded Fraud/Economic Crime incidents reported to us between 2021 and September 2025 it is estimated that economic crime accounts for approximately €421.5million in reported stolen property and funds.

However, we do also know that this is more likely to be much higher as some of this crime type goes un-reported.

For instance, the Central Bank's 2024 payment fraud data shows a significant increase in total losses, which rose to €160 million, up 24.5% from €129 million in 2023. 

The volume of fraudulent payments also grew by over 40% to 815,000 transactions, driven mainly by e-money and money remittance fraud, while online payments accounted for 77.4% of the total value. 

Despite these increases, the overall fraud rate remains low but the absolute losses have risen.

Meanwhile, PwC’s Global Economic Crime Survey in 2024 found high incidences of fraud among Irish firms with 55% experiencing fraud in the previous 24 months.

In the area of Investment Fraud reports have remained consistent with 2024 levels.  

The majority of victims between 2020 and 2024 were middle-aged to elderly individuals, and this highlights the need for increased awareness and vigilance among vulnerable members of our society.  

Emerging trends

Among the trends we are seeing in An Garda Síochána in collaboration with our financial industry partners, is a marked rise in bogus investment adverts appearing across popular online platforms.  These scams typically promote fake "bond” or "deposit” products using convincing documentation and branding.  

These are professional-looking online adverts linked to reputable European financial institutions. They tend to be short-lived ad campaigns designed to evade detection, and lead you to fake websites prompting users to leave contact details. This is followed up with contact by phone or email from individuals posing as investment advisers.

These criminals make claims of regulatory oversight but don’t provide verifiable credentials, and place paid press notices or articles to give themselves greater credibility.  

Victims are often asked to submit personal identification and transfer funds to accounts controlled by criminals.

These criminals are typically polite and professional, and coerce victims with mild urgency to act quickly. Once funds are transferred then the victims lose access to both their money and the supposed investment.  

With these types of crimes there is the potential to under-report, due to victims’ sense of embarrassment at being duped.

Engagement with business in addressing economic crime

The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau’s work with the business community forms a vital component of its preventative approach to tackling economic crime.

Here the Fraud Prevention Office plays a central role in outreach, education, and strategic engagement. It works closely with financial institutions, representative bodies, and private sector stakeholders to raise awareness of fraud trends and promotes preventative measures.

This includes the delivery of regular briefings and the distribution of information on emerging threats such as invoice redirection fraud, CEO fraud, and cyber-enabled scams.

The office also contributes to national and EU-level awareness campaigns. Its work is informed by analysis of available intelligence as well as operational feedback, ensuring that businesses are kept informed of current risks and evolving methodologies used by fraudsters.

Meanwhile, our Financial Services Liaison Office provides a direct link between An Garda Síochána and the banking and financial services sector. It facilitates information exchange and coordination in cases involving complex financial fraud, money laundering, and cybercrime.

Another unit within GNECB - the Insurance Fraud Co-Ordination Office- works in partnership with the insurance industry to identify patterns of fraudulent claims, coordinate investigations, and promote best practices in fraud detection and reporting.

In addition to these formal structures, GNECB is also involved informally with a wide range of business sectors, engaging with retail, telecommunications, logistics, and professional services.

GNECB also participates in multi-agency forums and working groups that bring together law enforcement, regulators, and industry to address systemic vulnerabilities and develop coordinated responses to economic crime.

This layered and collaborative approach ensures that An Garda Síochána remains closely aligned with the needs of the business community and is able to respond effectively to both emerging threats and long-standing fraud risks.

Methods of Engagement with Businesses

Our Crime Prevention Officers liaise with businesses to advise on internal/external security threats, cyber fraud, and payment‑scams.

They help embed prevention practices for example multiple‑approval payment procedures, verifying bank changes, and awareness of remote working risks.

Through Operation Táirge, which was launched in December 2023 An Garda Síochána initiated a nationwide approach targeting organised retail crime and emphasised enhanced engagement with high‑risk retailers.

Through targeted operations like this, An Garda Síochána signals to businesses that they can act as partners to the disruption of economic crime, rather than remain passive victims.

We have found the operation does serve to prevent loss to businesses – although it is difficult to quantify. It further supports the management of risks for businesses, and builds a stronger partnership between An Garda Síochána and our business communities.

Through this engagement, businesses can contribute to shaping crime‑prevention initiatives, help identify emerging threat‑patterns, and thereby benefit from the collective knowledge base.

Trans-jurisdictional collaboration, including with PSNI, in combatting cross-jurisdictional economic crime, including cyber crime

In terms of trans-jurisdictional collaboration, GNECB maintains active partnerships with law enforcement agencies both within and outside the State.

Through the Joint Agency Task Force, we maintain close cooperation with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI); The National Crime Agency, the Criminal Assets Bureau, Irish Customs and HM Custom in the UK and Immigration Enforcement in tackling cross-border economic crime.

The Joint Agency Task Force facilitates intelligence sharing, joint operations, and coordinated investigations into offences such as cybercrime, money laundering, and organised fraud.

In 2020 An Garda Síochána assisted the PSNI in a £215m (€252m) money laundering investigation involving a cross-border gang in Northern Ireland.

Seven people were arrested in the North over two days in what the PSNI said was their largest money laundering operation.

GNECB would work closely with City of London Police, who have the national remit for investigation of Fraud in the UK on Operation Omena.

This has seen us assisting one another in relation to the prosecution and extradition of those involved in transaction reversal fraud.

The Bureau plays a central role in policy development that requires engagement with stakeholders both nationally and internationally, given the continuous evolving nature of Economic Crime. 

As I’ve outlined, Economic Crime is increasingly digital, crosses borders and is enabled by technological advances. The area of e‑payments fraud, crypto, and cyber‑enabled money‑laundering are a rapidly changing environment. 

It is important that we keep up with these changes and we do this through upskilling and training but also through our collaboration with our policing colleagues internationally. This ensures An Garda Síochána has the capacity to investigate new and emerging crime patterns and trends, involving both national and international elements.

GNECB engages extensively with Europol, Interpol, and other international enforcement bodies, such as the PSNI, through the International Enquiries Office, which acts as the central hub for managing cross-border economic crime requests.

While, Europol’s Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA), enables our investigators to seek information from our counterparts across Europe in real time. This facilitates swift action in cases involving transnational organised crime.

And Interpol channels are used to support investigations with a global footprint.

GNECB also contributes to international working groups and task forces focused on cyber-enabled financial crime. These partnerships are essential in tackling offences that transcend borders and require coordinated responses across legal and operational frameworks.

Investigations / Successes

The importance of information sharing, collaboration and cooperation in space cannot be overstated. And in this area, GNECB works domestically and internationally co-operating with bodies like INTERPOL, Europol and foreign law-enforcement agencies. 

It has been involved in some significant operations of late, including: Operation JACKAL/Operation SKEIN, where GNECB led international investigations against the Black Axe Organised Crime Group. 

As part of this operation, GNECB identified 1,572 people linked to an international gang specialising in fraud and money laundering in Ireland, including 100 members responsible for its direction. 

102 arrests were made by GNECB with 204 persons charged to date and 22 juveniles admitted to the Juvenile Diversion Programme.

And working with the banks, in seven different cases involving Irish Companies where over €475,000 was stolen, over €400,000 was recovered by the GNECB.

This serves to illustrate GNECB’s role in coordinating large‑scale, multi‑jurisdiction investigations targeting complex fraud and money‑laundering networks.

While the Black Axe gang in Ireland initially specialised in laundering large sums of money through the Irish banking system after it was stolen abroad, its tactics have evolved of late. It is now primarily focused on taking over the bank accounts of unsuspecting victims in the country.

Though the amount of money confirmed stolen and laundered by the Black Axe gang was estimated at almost €100 million, it is likely to be much higher. 

These crimes are linked to bogus texts purporting to come from the pillar banks along with cloned websites identical to those used by those banks.

Unsuspecting bank customers are tricked into sharing their account login details, believing they are being directed by their banks to log into their accounts to resolve stated problems. 

Once Black Axe gang members gain access to an account, they add other accounts they already control as beneficiaries.  They then quickly transfer as much money as possible into those accounts. 

More than 1,400 money-mule bank accounts have now been identified in Ireland.  These are accounts held by people known as “money mules” who agree to allow the accounts to be used to take receipt of defrauded money in exchange for a fee, though they are rarely paid. Often these money mules are students.

Other Noteworthy Investigations

In October of this month, as part of the Cross Border Joint Agency Task Force (JATF), An Garda Síochána and the Police Service of Northern Ireland were involved in the investigation of approximately 75 incidents of fraud related to the agri-business sector.

Two people have been arrested as part of the ongoing investigations and some items have been recovered including a forklift, a quadbike and a dumper truck.

There were a number of successes in September of this year in the area of money laundering where GNECB arrested two individuals in an investigation into large cash withdrawals from ATMs in Dublin and Cork linked to bank accounts in Poland/Norway. Over €90,000 in cash has been recovered to date.

While a further search on 15 September led to seizure of €322,855 cash, passports/ID cards and a number of related items.

Among the other successes for GNECB was the first conviction in October 2023 for insider dealing in the Republic of Ireland.

This is significant because it illustrates GNECB’s reach into corporate and market‑abuse offences.

These are just some of the recent success stories for us in An Garda Síochána.  

Conclusion

Before I conclude, I might revisit the comments made by the former Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock following the release of Interpol’s assessment on global financial fraud last year.

In this report, he said:

“We are facing an epidemic in the growth of financial fraud, leading to individuals, often vulnerable people, and companies being defrauded on a massive and global scale”.

The key findings of this assessment showed the most prevalent global trends of economic crime are in the area of investment fraud, advance payment fraud, romance fraud and business email compromise.

He pointed to “changes in technology and the rapid increase in the scale and volume of organised crime” driving the creation of a range of new ways to defraud innocent people, businesses and even Governments.

The Secretary General also warned that the situation was only going to get worse with the development of AI and cryptocurrencies.

He emphasised the importance of ensuring that there were no safe havens for financial fraudsters to operate. And spoke of closing existing gaps by ensuring there was greater information sharing between sectors and across borders.

This, he said, should be “the norm and not the exception”.

This, it has to be said, has mirrored our experience here in Ireland, and the key challenge faced by the Bureau and our policing partners is the rapidly changing environment in which those involved in economic crime operate in.

An Garda Síochána will continue to work hard to detect and pursue those involved in such criminality, as we have done in leading multinational operations such as INTERPOL’s Operation JACKAL which I mentioned earlier.

We will continue to assist other law enforcement partners and this year, the Bureau has received more than 500* International requests for assistance (*508 September 30, 2025).

It is through collaboration and cooperation that we will make inroads and when trends emerge and diverge we must adapt to meet those challenges.

Thank You.