Bernard Allen
Question:1054 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason there is no missing persons service available to the families of missing persons. [1875/01]
Written Answers. - Missing Persons.
I have spoken in the House on many occasions on the subject of missing persons. As I have indicated before, the deployment of Garda resources and the investigative methods used in missing persons cases are matters for the Garda Commissioner. I am informed by the Garda authorities that the Garda Síochána do all in their power to locate all missing persons and that they do provide considerable support for families.
We know from the Garda statistics that approximately 99% of those reported missing in any year are accounted for by the end of the year. We must realise that not all of the people who go missing do so in suspicious circumstances, which would be of interest to the gardaí. While the Garda Síochána do have a website which gives details of certain missing persons I do not consider it appropriate that either the Garda or my Department would run a help line specifically for this purpose but I would emphasise that the Garda maintains close liaison with the families of missing persons.
Bernard Allen
Question:1055 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of people that have gone missing here each year since 1980 and to date in 2001. [1876/01]
I regret that the information requested by the Deputy could not be compiled in the time available. I will contact the Deputy again when the figures are to hand.