asked the Minister for Justice if he has any plans to re-establish the murder squad of An Garda Síochána to investigate serious crime and in particular, to investigate murders; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
86.
Written Answers. - Plans to Re-establish Murder Squad.
22.
asked the Minister for Justice if he has had any discussions with the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána regarding the possible reintroduction of the Garda Murder Squad; if it is intended to re-establish the squad; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 22 and 86 together.
As indicated in reply to Question No. 38 on 22 February 1989, it is not accurate to say that the investigation unit popularly known as the "Murder Squad" was disbanded at any time. What did happen was that, as part of internal Garda organisational changes which took place in April 1988, a number of members were transferred from the unit to stations in the Dublin metropolitan area, but a corps of highly experienced major crime investigators were retained in the unit. The Garda authorities inform me that the effectiveness of the Force in pursuing murder investigations was not diminished by these transfers and that the services of the members transferred can still be made available on request when needed for any special investigation.
The Garda authorities are also satisfied that the success rate of the detection of murders since April 1988 has remained quite high and that there is nothing to indicate that the situation would have been better if the investigation unit had remained unchanged.