legislative reform." The Minister for Justice set out that Ireland, through the work of the Bureau, has established itself as a jurisdiction that is responding to that challenge and the work of the Bureau is internationally recognised as a best practice approach to tackling criminality and the illicit monies it generates. The CAB has been effective against organised criminals, especially those involved in the importation and distribution of drugs. It has also been used against corrupt public officials and terrorists. Legislative framework The Law Reform Commission provides consolidated legislation relating to the Bureau, namely: Criminal Assets Bureau Act 1996 (updated to 28 May 2019) Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 (updated to 30 July 2018) The Proceeds of Crime Acts were amended further by the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act 2016. The Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act 2016 is designed to facilitate the seizure of property which is suspected to be the proceeds of crime by expanding the powers of the Criminal Assets Bureau to seize those proceeds. This act amends the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 in two key respects. First, it allows the Criminal Assets Bureau to seize property which it suspects to be the proceeds of crime for up to 21 days. Second, it reduces the threshold value of property which can be pursued by the Criminal Assets Bureau from €13,000 to €5,000. Objectives The statutory objectives of the CAB are – the identification of the assets of persons which derive, or are suspected to derive, directly or indirectly from criminal conduct; the taking of appropriate action under the law to deprive or to deny those persons of such assets or the benefit of such assets, and the pursuit of any necessary investigation or other preparatory work in relation to relevant proceedings. The emergence of CAB signalled a more focused approach on targeting the financial proceeds of crime than previously existed. Overview The CAB collected €89 million in taxes in its first ten years of existence and it also engaged in initiatives to curtail international criminality. The CAB has a staff of 91, including members of , Revenue Commissioners, (both customs and taxes officers), and civil servants from the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Justice. Its annual budget for 2011 was €6.673 million, of which 86% is salary cost. This was reduced to €6.410 million in 2012, but has increased to 8.832m Euro in 2018.