Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 4 Jun 1998

Vol. 491 No. 7

Written Answers. - Public Order Offences.

Eamon Gilmore

Question:

191 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons arrested under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994, in each of the years from 1995 to 1997; and the number of these subsequently charged with offences. [13142/98]

Eamon Gilmore

Question:

192 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons charged with offences under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994, in each of the years from 1995 to 1997. [13143/98]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 191 and 192 together.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the information sought by the Deputy which is readily available is as follows:

Year	No. of offences under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994 in respect of which proceedings were commenced
1995	10,209
1996	16,384

Statistics for 1997 are not yet available.

The information sought regarding the number of arrests under the Act is not readily available and could be obtained only by a disproportionate expenditure of Garda time and resources because the compilation of the information would involve the manual checking of the custody records of every person arrested in the State during the period in question.