asked the Minister for Justice if his attention has been drawn to the increased level of crime in the Duleek area of County Meath; the number of reported crimes in the Duleek area since January 1988 to date; the number of persons involved in the carrying out of those crimes; the number of summonses issued for crimes committed in the Duleek area for the period in question; if there has been any delay in the issuing of summonses; and, if so, the reason.
Written Answers. - Meath Crime Rate.
37.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that provisional figures indicate that there has been an increase in the level of recorded indictable crime in the Garda sub-district of Duleek and that in the period 1 January 1988 to 31 March 1989, 86 indictable offences were recorded there. To date 58 of those offences have been detected and 44 persons have been or are currently before the courts in connection with 34 of them. Papers relating to the remainder of the detected offences have been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions. This relatively high detection rate is expected to have the effect of curbing the incidence of crime in the Duleek area.
I am informed that there has been no undue delay in bringing persons before the courts in any of the cases referred to.