Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2025
444. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the additional supervisory powers and sanctioning tools he expects the Property Services Regulatory Authority to gain following implementation of the 6th Anti-Money Laundering Directive; the legislative timeline; and how these reforms will alter the Authority’s approach to repeated or serious non-compliance by property services providers. [71055/25]
View answerUnder the 6th anti-money laundering (6AML) package, changes are required to how anti-money laundering rules are supervised and enforced at national level.
The Directive requires that the administrative sanctions regime provided for in Article 56 of 6AML, applies where:
• there are breaches of the 6AML Regulation, either in combination with pecuniary sanctions for serious, repeated and systematic breaches, or on their own;
• there are weaknesses in the internal policies, procedures and controls of the obliged entity that are likely to result in breaches of the requirements and administrative measures can prevent the occurrence of those breaches or reduce the risk thereof; or
• the obliged entity has internal policies, procedures and controls that are not commensurate with the risks of money laundering, its predicate offences or terrorist financing to which the entity is exposed.
In addition to the sanctions currently provided for under the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011, Article 56 of the 6 AML Directive requires that it must be possible for supervisors to apply sanctions including:
• imposition of a financial penalty on the person of up to a maximum of €1 million or twice the benefit derived from the breach, whichever is higher (only for certain breaches). The maximum financial penalty that can currently be imposed under the 2011 Act is €250,000;
• requiring the divestment of activities;
• issuing a public statement which identifies the natural or legal person and the nature of the breach;
• requiring changes in the governance structure; and
• imposing a temporary ban against any person discharging managerial responsibilities in an obliged entity, or any other natural person who has been held responsible for the breach from exercising managerial functions in obliged entities.
The Directive further requires:
• if an administrative sanction is imposed, it must be accompanied by a binding deadline for implementation;
• it must be possible to impose periodic penalty payments; and
• decisions on sanctions are to be published.
Work on the necessary transposing legislation is currently underway by the Departments of Finance and Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, in consultation with relevant stakeholders. The above-mentioned elements will be transposed via the PSRA's existing sanctions procedures.
The transposition of the Directive is to take place by July 2027.
