Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 8 Nov 1995

Vol. 457 No. 8

Written Answers. - Drug Dealing Convictions.

Dan Wallace

Question:

139 Mr. D. Wallace asked the Minister for Justice the number of individuals convicted of drug dealing to date this year; the distribution by county of these cases; the distribution of penalties applied; and the number of repeat offenders. [16379/95]

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Owen)

I informed the Deputy in my response to Parliamentary Question No. 24 of 3 October 1995, that while official figures for 1995 are not readily available, provisional figures for 1994 show that there were ten convictions for indictable offences under section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Acts. These convictions were obtained in the following Garda Divisions (as the Garda Síochána is not administered on a county basis, it is not the practice to record the distribution of these cases on such a basis):

Division
Dublin Metropolitan Area South	1
Dublin Metropolitan Area North	2
Dublin Metropolitan Area East	2
Louth-Meath	1
Laois-Offaly	1
Wexford	1
Cork East	1
Sligo/Leitrim	1

In addition, provisional figures for 1994 show that summary convictions were obtained in 3,064 cases under the Misuse of Drugs Acts. A number of these convictions would have been in respect of persons convicted of possession of controlled drugs for the purpose of sale or supply contrary to section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Acts. However, information as to the actual number of such convictions is not readily available.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that information on the distribution of penalties applied and the number of repeat offenders is not readily available and could only be obtained by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of Garda time and resources.