under the proceeds of crime act 1996 & 2005 if the cab can satisfy the high court on the balance of probabilities that specified property is the proceeds of crime, the court will make an interim order over the property preventing anybody from dealing with it. this order stays in place for 21 days, following which an application is made for an interlocutory hearing, on notice to any person who has an interest in that property. if it appears to the court that such property is the proceeds of crime, despite anything said by any respondent, an interlocutory order is put in place for a period of seven years. in the course of that time any person who can satisfy the court that the property is not the proceeds of crime can move to have the order lifted. if no such order has been granted during those seven years, the cab can seek a disposal order effectively extinguishing anybody's rights to the properties and transferring it to the central exchequer. in april 2014, deputy eamonn maloney sponsored a private members bill to amend the proceeds of crime acts. section 1 of the bill seeks to reduce the seven-year period to two years. this bill was listed before the dáil on friday 8 may 2015 and is viewed as a move by the government to toughen the laws on confiscating criminals' assets and similarly is expected to yield a multimillion-euro windfall for the taxpayer. as the bill is a private members' bill, its referral to select committee on justice, defence and equality was required pursuant to the standing orders 82a and 118.