Vol. 535 No. 1
525 Mr. Currie asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason a letter from Deputy Austin Currie to the Minister dated 19 September 2000 and acknowledged by his private secretary on 25 October 2000 was not replied to until 30 March 2001; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11722/01]
Records at my office indicate that the correspondence referred to by the Deputy was acknowledged by my office on 22 September 2000. The matter was then referred to the relevant section within my Department who requested a report on the matter from the Garda authorities on 27 September. Pending receipt of this report, an interim response was forwarded to the Deputy on 25 October 2000.
A detailed response was forwarded to the Department by the Garda authorities on 21 February 2001 and received shortly thereafter. A reply to the Deputy was then prepared in the relevant section and subsequently forwarded to my office for issue.
While I understand the Deputy's concerns, I ask him to appreciate that the issues raised by him required the Department to request a report from the Garda authorities. Many other letters of this type are received and reports must be sought from the Garda authorities. Such letters are dealt with as expeditiously as possible but, given the nature of the correspondence, frequently requiring reports from gardaí engaged in operational duties, and the aforementioned volume of correspondence, delays of the type encountered by the Deputy cannot always be avoided.
