Security Minister, Jane Kennedy has called for closer co-operation between the public and private sectors in identifying and countering the threat from organised crime.

Ms Kennedy, who is also Chair of the Organised Crime Task Force, was speaking to over 300 delegates at a major European Congress in Dublin on the theme of organised crime.

The Minister said that counterfeiting presented a particular threat to the private sector but added that both the public and private sectors "have a clear and important duty to do what lies within their responsibilities to help governments and law enforcement agencies to effectively deal with organised crime".

"We must augment the efforts of law enforcement with non-traditional methods such as recovering the proceeds of crime, and think radically to ensure that law enforcement agencies can keep ahead of the ever increasing sophistication of the organised criminals.

"The concept of co-operation between business and law enforcement takes us beyond conventional methods of combating crime, and raises the multi-agency approach, on which the Organised Crime Task Force is based, to a new and exciting level.

"By working in partnership, techniques can be developed which significantly reduce the opportunities for criminals and effectively prevent crime. By building strong alliances we can develop new methods and approaches which get to the root of the problem and allow effective action to be taken," the Minister added.

Ms Kennedy also stressed the need for strong partnerships to be developed in an enlarged European Union and highlighted the benefits of networking between law enforcement agencies of member states.

Tackling Organised Crime in Partnership is the first European Congress on developing public/private partnerships to identify, measure and prevent harm from organised crime.

(MB)