Alan Shatter
Question:164 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons in each of the last 15 years who committed a criminal offence at a time when they were on bail and who were subsequently convicted of such offence. [6083/95]
Written Answers. - Criminal Statistics.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that all the information sought by the Deputy is not readily available and could be obtained only by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of Garda time and resources.
Statistics as to the numbers of persons convicted for offences committed while on bail are available only for the years 1992-1994. They are as follows: 1992, 1,901; 1993, 1,691; 1994, 555.
However, a word of warning and an explanation is necessary if the above figures are not to be misinterpreted. First, the warning: the statistics relate to numbers of persons convicted of offences, so there may be an element of double-count, if some individuals have been convicted more than once of separate offences.
Second, by way of explanation, I should point out that the statistics refer to the year the offence was committed and not the year when the conviction was obtained. This explains why the 1994 figure is so low in comparison to 1992 and 1993. As convictions are obtained this year in relation to offences which occurred last year, the figure of 555 can be expected to grow considerably.
For completeness, I will set out the number of detected offences committed by persons while on bail for the years 1983 to 1994.
They are as follows:—
Actual Number of Detected Offences Committed by Persons while on Bail
|
Year |
Number |
|
1983 |
8,295 |
|
1984 |
6,338 |
|
1985 |
4,775 |
|
1986 |
2,121 |
|
1987 |
2,613 |
|
1988 |
2,947 |
|
1989 |
2,647 |
|
1990 |
2,494 |
|
1991 |
2,690 |
|
1992 |
2,791 |
|
1993 |
3,191 |
|
*1994 |
4,416 |
* Provisional