1. Written evidence from the CBI Northern
Ireland
1. CBI Northern Ireland welcomes the opportunity
to respond to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Inquiry into
organised crime in the Province. This is an issue which has been
of concern to our members for a number of years, and we have met
senior representatives of the PSNI at regular intervals since
2002 to discuss the impact which organised crime is having on
the economy and indeed society in general and the effectiveness
of the measures taken by the police and other agencies to counter
organised crime.
2. We are not in a position to comment in
detail on many aspects of organised crime—there is clearly
much sensitivity in dealing with these matters in public discussion
although we are confident that our members do have effective linkages
with the PSNI.
3. From CBI Northern Ireland members' perspective
the key aspects of organised crime encompass:
— fuel smuggling—an issue upon
which CBI Northern has carried out some detailed research in the
past;
— fraud, theft, violent robberies (particularly
in relation to cigarettes and cash deliveries) etc;
— money laundering activities;
— extortion and racketeering, especially
in the construction industry;
— counterfeiting of brand name goods,
particularly videos and DVDs, alcohol, etc;
— illegal drugs transactions;
The perception in the business community is
that there have been major increases in the incidence and numbers
of crimes in all of the above areas since the mid 1990s, and particularly
over the last four years since police numbers were cut as a result
of the Patten reforms. Much of this is considered to be related
to organised crime, though clearly there will be a certain amount
of activity involving other groups/individuals. Our members have
also expressed major concern that we appear to be living in an
increasingly lawless society with rising numbers of domestic burglaries,
many with violent aspects, and increasing levels of anti-social
behaviour. For example, a major telecoms company would have had
an average of about one attack per month on their vans pre-1997—now
these are an increasingly common occurrence. Similarly, cash delivery
vans are now much more likely to be attacked than seven or eight
years ago.
4. Worryingly, organised crime has moved
out of areas of Belfast and other towns where paramilitary influences
are strong into the mainstream of society. In relation to fuel
smuggling and laundering, for example, it has been estimated that
as much as 70% of fuel sold in NI has been adulterated to a greater
or lesser extent.
IMPACT ON
THE NORTHERN
IRELAND ECONOMY
5. The impact of organised crime is pernicious,
and the agencies tasked with combatting it (PSNI, Her Majesty's
Revenue and Customs—HMRC—and the Assets Recovery Agency)
have a major task on their hands convincing the public that buying
a counter-feited DVD, for example, is not a "victimless crime".
Indeed there have been reported instances where the police have
been attacked at markets such as those held at Nutts Corner when
they move in to confiscate counterfeit goods.
6. Organised crime has the following impacts:
— It increases the influence, and more
significantly, the income of the paramilitaries/ex-paramilitaries;
— It makes it much more difficult,
if not impossible, for legitimate traders, particularly in areas
such as retailing, to abide by the law and still stay in business—this
can impact on the "corner shop" where illegal cigarettes
and alcohol are sold in local neighbourhoods to petrol retailers
who are undermined by illegal operators;
— It can have damaging environmental
consequences where such illegal operators ignore regulations designed
to protect the environment;
— It has very damaging consequences
on employees who are the victims of armed robberies and other
violent crime—this can lead to increased absenteeism, stress
and other physiological problems;
— It can add to business costs which
have had to take additional precautions and measures to reduce
the risk from organised crime as well as increasing welfare costs
of looking after staff affected by such crime;
— It reduces respect for law and order
and creates a culture of lawlessness and disrespect—including
in our young people who get offered cheap counterfeit goods. This
in turn creates a culture where "ordinary decent crime"
is regarded as acceptable behaviour.
7. There are also substantial revenue losses
to the government as a result of organised crime, particularly
in relation to fuel smuggling, which three years ago was estimated
to be costing the Treasury in the region of £300 million
per year—a recent report by the Independent Monitoring Commission
refers to a £1 billion loss over the last three years. CBI
welcomes the recent successes of the Assets Recovery Agency and
wishes to see it becoming as effective and successful as the Criminal
Assets Bureau in the Republic of Ireland.
8. CBI welcomed the setting up of the Organised
Crime Task Force in 2002 and we have recently been invited to
have representation on it. It is crucial that the multi-agency
partnership between central and NI government departments, law
enforcement agencies and most importantly, the community at large,
is seen to be effective in tackling the serious problems associated
with organised crime and in combatting the perceived atmosphere
of lawlessness which seems to prevail throughout much of our society.
9. There is also a particular issue in relation
to the resources of the PSNI and how these are deployed. There
is a perception among CBI members that due to big cuts in police
numbers over the last four years that a hierarchy of offences
exists and those which the PSNI consider to be less serious only
receive attention after some delay, which in certain cases can
be considerable. We have put these points to senior PSNI representatives,
who concede that they have much less manpower then previously.
However, there is an expectation that as the numbers entering
the Service work their way through the system, are trained and
gain experience, that they will be effective in the fight against
organised crime and that the situation on the ground will improve.
Meanwhile, however, it is more than ever essential that limited
resources are used most effectively.
10. CBI welcomes the strategic approach
adopted by the Organised Crime Task Force and the work currently
ongoing at a national level within the Home Office to measure
the harmful impacts of organised crime and develop a performance
regime to assess how such impacts are being reduced through the
activities of the law enforcement agencies in the UK. It is important
to ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to those involved
in fighting organised crime to ensure that the scale of the problem
is significantly reduced.
11. We also welcome the co-operation between
the PSNI and Garda Siochana which resulted in the Cross Border
Organised Crime Assessment report produced last year, and focused
specifically on serious and organised crime conducted on both
sides of the border on a long-term basis by criminals in pursuit
of significant financial profit, and the ongoing work which is
continuing to date.
12. CBI Northern Ireland also awaits with
interest the results of the research commissioned by the OCTF
to explore consumer attitudes towards, and motivations for, the
consumption of counterfeit goods, in the light of the point about
public attitudes to so-called "victimless crime" made
in paragraph 5 above. According to the 2005 Annual Report of the
OCTF these results will inform government policy on tackling intellectual
property crime and facilitate industry sources on the creation
of anti-piracy messages. This is essential if this invidious type
of crime is to be tackled.
CBI Northern Ireland
12 December 2005
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