Road Traffic Offences.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 November 2008

Thursday, 13 November 2008

Questions (55)

Jack Wall

Question:

49 Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on recent figures showing that in the past five years just 54.5% of persons charged with drink driving offences have actually been convicted in the courts; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that this is well below the rate in most other countries; if he will review procedures for dealing with such offences in view of the low conviction rate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40196/08]

Written answers

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Deputy Dermot Ahern)

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the following table shows the number of drink-driving related incidents recorded on PULSE from 2003 to 2007, the number of proceedings commenced, convictions recorded and rate of conviction for those incidents.

Year	Drink-driving incident types recorded (total)	Proceedings Commenced	Convictions	Proceedings concluded (Non-conviction**)	Drink-driving incidents currently outstanding***	Conviction Rate
2003	11,491	9,939	6,661	2,321	957	73%
2004	12,168	10,493	7,414	2,007	1,072	71%
2005	14,076	12,143	8,708	1,868	1,567	72%
2006	18,602	15,344	11,154	1,915	2,275	73%
2007	19,837	15,960	10,682	1,759	3,519	67%

**Struck-out, dismissed, proved order with no conviction recorded.

***Case stands remanded on adjournment, awaiting date for hearing of the case, warrant issued for defendant who failed to appear, judicial review proceedings.

It should be noted that not all drink-driving related incidents recorded automatically result in the commencement of proceedings for such an offence.

The conviction rate by its nature increases over time as cases are disposed of by the courts. Consequently the conviction rates for earlier years will be higher than for later years.

I am also informed by the Garda authorities that as part of the latest upgrade to the Pulse system scheduled for mid November, applications for summonses by the gardaí will be electronically routed to Courts Criminal Case Tracking System which will in return issues the summons, and electronically notify the gardaí through PULSE of the court date and outcome in due course. This will result in savings to both organisations as well as enhancements to the accuracy of the Garda criminal records system.

The following revised reply was received on Thursday, 20th November 2008:

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Deputy Dermot Ahern)

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the following table shows the number of drink-driving related incidents recorded on PULSE from 2003 to 2007, the number of proceedings commenced, convictions recorded and rate of conviction for those incidents.

Year	Drink-driving incident types recorded (total)	Proceedings Commenced	Convictions	Proceedings concluded (Non-conviction**)	Drink-driving incidents currently outstanding***	Conviction Rate
2003	11,491	9,939	6,661	2,321	957	67%
2004	12,168	10,493	7,414	2,007	1,072	71%
2005	14,076	12,143	8,708	1,868	1,567	72%
2006	18,602	15,344	11,154	1,915	2,275	73%
2007	19,837	15,960	10,682	1,759	3,519	67%

**Struck-out, dismissed, proved order with no conviction recorded.

***Case stands remanded on adjournment, awaiting date for hearing of the case, warrant issued for defendant who failed to appear, judicial review proceedings.

It should be noted that not all drink-driving related incidents recorded automatically result in the commencement of proceedings for such an offence.

The conviction rate by its nature increases over time as cases are disposed of by the courts. Consequently the conviction rates for earlier years will be higher than for later years.

I am also informed by the Garda authorities that as part of the latest upgrade to the Pulse system scheduled for mid November, applications for summonses by the gardaí will be electronically routed to Courts Criminal Case Tracking System which will in return issues the summons, and electronically notify the gardaí through PULSE of the court date and outcome in due course. This will result in savings to both organisations as well as enhancements to the accuracy of the Garda criminal records system.