the legally aided person is made in accordance with the mechanism which is in operation under the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962 and the Regulations made under that Act. The CAB Ad Hoc Legal Aid Scheme cost €334,000 in 2009, up 18% from the previous year's figure of €283,000. It cost €257,000 in 2010. In October 2014, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform suggested that the State could cut its criminal legal aid bill by using the Criminal Assets Bureau to carry out a “more thorough” analysis of defendants’ ability to pay. Outcomes From the Bureau's establishment in October 1996 up to end of 2011 the Bureau successfully froze over €70m worth of criminals' assets. It also collected €137m of the €200m demanded in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties. CAB also made social welfare savings of almost €6m and recovered over €2m in fraudulently claimed welfare. According to the Annual Report for 2017, the total amount of funds restrained was in excess of €4.8 million. However, one case currently under investigation accounts for approximately €3.5 million. Tax recovered by the Bureau during 2017 amounted to €2.374m from fifty one individuals / entities and as a result of actions by Social Welfare Bureau Officers, a total sum of €319,720.31 was returned to the Exchequer in 2017. International cooperation The statutory functions of the Criminal Assets Bureau include the taking of all necessary actions for the purpose of the freezing and confiscation of assets suspected of deriving from criminal activity and that such actions include, where appropriate, subject to any international agreement, cooperation with any police force or any authority outside Ireland which has functions related to the recovery of proceeds of crime. CAB represents Ireland at the Camden Assets Recovery Interagency Network (CARIN), a group which aims to improve informal cross-border and inter-agency cooperation within the European Union and elsewhere. CAB currently sits on the CARIN steering group. The CAB held the presidency of CARIN in 2005 and again in 2013. EU Council Decision 2007/845/JHA obliges Member States to set up or designate national Asset Recovery Offices (AROs) as national central contact points which facilitate, through enhanced cooperation, the fastest possible EU-wide tracing of assets derived from crime. This Decision was designed to complete the CARIN by providing a legal basis for the exchange of information between Asset Recovery Offices of all the Member States. The Decision allows the