Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 December 2019
204. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of bench warrants issued in 2017, 2018 and to date in 2019; the number outstanding in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53571/19]
View answerBench warrants are most commonly issued by the District Court after a person has failed to appear in court. I am informed by the Courts Service that, since the commencement of the Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014 on 11 January 2016, Judges have also issued bench warrants for people who fail to attend hearings on foot of being issued with a Fines Enforcement Notice.
I am informed by the Courts Service that the following table provides a breakdown of the number of District Court Criminal Bench Warrants and the number of Enforcement Fines Bench Warrants issued in 2017, 2018 and in 2019 as of 30 November 2019. No other categories of warrants are included in these totals.
In particular, the Courts Service has additionally indicated that the following table does not include Family Law Bench Warrants or Circuit Court Bench Warrants. It should also be noted that a person who is the subject of a Bench Warrant could be accused of more than one offence. In such a case, only one Bench Warrant will issue and the schedule of all offences is attached to the warrant.
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Column 6 |
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Year |
No. of District Court Bench Warrants |
No. of outstanding District Court Bench Warrants |
No. of Enforcements Bench Warrants |
No. of outstanding enforcement bench warrants |
Total no. of Bench Warrants issued |
Total no. of outstanding bench warrants |
|
Jan – Dec 2017 |
25,392 |
2,671 |
257 |
59 |
25,649 |
2,730 |
|
Jan – Dec 2018 |
28,278 |
3,826 |
12,567 |
4,259 |
40,845 |
8,085 |
|
Jan – Nov 2019 |
27,744 |
7,857 |
7,186 |
4,180 |
34,930 |
12,037 |
