The public prosecution department clawed back a record €130m from criminals last year, up €50m on 2013.

The increase is due to the €56m out of court settlement reached with maritime services group SBM Offshore.

The public prosecution department has been making a concerted effort to claw back criminal cash for the past two years. In 2008, officials recovered just €23m.

‘We have seen that criminals seem to accept a six month jail sentence,’ a spokesman told broadcaster Nos. ‘It is a sort of calculated risk. They think that after they’ve done their time, they will spend the rest of their lives as millionaires. We are not allowing that to happen.’