Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 22 Oct 1996

Vol. 470 No. 4

Written Answers. - Juvenile Liaison Scheme.

Cecilia Keaveney

Question:

224 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Justice the number of juveniles, by county, who have been referred under the juvenile liaison scheme in each of the years from 1994 to 1996; and the crimes which were most common. [19262/96]

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Owen)

The Garda authorities inform me that referrals received at the National Juvenile Liaison Office are collated on the basis of Garda districts divisions and the area involved does not always conform to country boundaries. The number of referrals received from each of the Garda Divisions during the year 1994 to 1996 are as follows:

Number of referrals received per Garda Division for years 1994 to 1996

Division	1994	1995	1996 (to date)
D.M.A. North	2,009	1,656	1,322
D.M.A. South	1,529	1,686	1,463
D.M.A. East	762	748	670
D.M.A. North Central	1,642	1,252	1,005
D.M.A. South Central	1,118	954	692
Louth/Meath	783	722	700
Longford/Westmeath	272	319	300
Laoighis/Offaly	356	264	247
Carlow/Kildare	455	397	427
Wexford	471	319	308
Waterford/Kilkenny	625	673	544
Tipperary	283	263	182
Cork City*			686
Cork North*	1,495	1,212	319
Cork West	155	188	165
Kerry	298	316	282
Limerick	468	410	287
Clare	236	285	202
Galway West	424	330	259
Roscommon/Galway East	124	219	101
Mayo	206	206	163
Sligo/Leitrim	194	156	128
Donegal	442	467	324
Cavan/Monaghan	373	445	218
Total	14,720	13,487	10,994

*Note: From January 1996 the former Cork East Division was divided into two separate Divisions — Cork City Division and Cork North Division.

It should be noted that the total referrals in 1994 at 14,720 relates to 12,485 offenders; 13,487 referrals in 1995 relate to 11,499 offenders; the breakdown for 1996 is not yet available.

The Garda authorities also report that the most common crime referred under the scheme is larceny, accounting for approximately 40 per cent of all referrals, followed by criminal damage at 15 per cent, burglary at 12 per cent with vehicle offences, such as unauthorised taking, and public order offences, such as threatening-abusive behaviour, each accounting for approximately 7 per cent.