Vol. 504 No. 2
73 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of public order offences committed per county for each of the past three years; if these figures are included in official crime statistics; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11566/99]
I am informed by the Garda authorities that Garda crime statistics are compiled on the basis of Garda administrative areas, which do not always coincide with county boundaries.
The number of public order offences per Garda region in 1997, the last year for which statistics are published, are available in the Annual Report of An Garda Síochána, 1997. The figures for 1996 and 1995 are set out at a national level in the annual reports for those years. I understand that the number of offences per region in respect of 1995 and 1996 are not readily available, and could only be obtained by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources.
