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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 5 May 1960

Vol. 181 No. 6

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Unlicensed Street Collectors.

6.

asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons convicted during the last twelve months for holding street collections without a licence.

Separate statistics of the number of persons convicted of the offence mentioned are not compiled by the Garda Síochána and, in order to obtain them, it would be necessary to circularise more than 750 Garda Stations and to have the records in these Stations gone through. This would take up a very considerable amount of the time of the Garda Síochána to the detriment of their ordinary duties, and I do not consider that the information would be of sufficient value to justify the undertaking.

I disagree. The Minister should have some information and it must be on the Garda files.

Would the Minister say could this information be got from the district court clerks and not from the Garda Síochána barracks?

Yes, but there again you would have to go around every district court in the country.

But there would not be 700 of them.

I could not say. I would not be sure of that, but I am assured that to get the information which Deputy Sherwin seeks through the various Garda barracks would cost several thousand pounds.

What I am suggesting is that it could be got through the district courts rather than through the Garda barracks.

I do not think so.

I was always of the opinion that the headquarters of any Department knows very well what is going on in all branches of that Department. That is why I thought the information would be readily available.

No, the details are all in the local Garda stations.

I should be glad of any information.

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