Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 May 2020
354. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons arrested to date by An Garda Síochána in the Dublin metropolitan region for being in breach of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020. [7793/20]
View answerAs the Deputy will appreciate, An Garda Síochána has been carrying out extensive operations in support of the public health guidelines in place in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Garda action in this regard is underpinned by primary and secondary legislation introduced by the Minister for Health and in particular the additional temporary powers provided for under section 31A of the Health Act 1947 and brought into effect by the Health Act 1947- Section 31A- Temporary Restrictions (COVID 19) Regulations 2020.
A range of actions are being taken to ensure that the policing of these public health restrictions is carried out in an appropriate, proportionate and human rights compliant manner.
The Garda Commissioner and his senior team have implemented a carefully graduated policing response, based on its strong tradition of policing by consent. Garda members engage, explain and encourage members of the public to comply and, only as a last resort, make use of their enforcement powers under these regulations.
As Minister, I have taken a number of specific actions in the interest of transparency and in order to maintain public trust and confidence in the manner in which these powers are being exercised.
First, I requested the Garda Commissioner to compile and publish a record of any use of these temporary powers, and he is going so on a weekly basis.
Second, I also requested the Policing Authority to engage with the Commissioner to independently assess and report regularly on the use of these regulations. The Authority is providing me with reports of this kind on a fortnightly basis.
Third, I have made this information on the use of An Garda Síochána of these powers and associated monitoring by the Policing Authority publicly available on my Department’s website.
The Deputy may wish to note that the latest figures published by An Garda Síochána show that from 8 April, when the regulations came into effect, until 23 May 2020 inclusive, Gardaí have invoked the regulations 263 times out of more than one million interactions with the public. These include both arrests and incidents without arrest where name and address details were taken for consultation with the DPP on the decision to issue charges. Arrest remains a last resort.
The third report of the Policing Authority, dated 20 May, indicates that An Garda Síochána is continuing to act in a sensitive and proportionate manner and to use the powers provided for under the Health Regulations only sparingly. The report also identified clear evidence of the consistent application of the law and of policy throughout the country by Gardaí in all circumstances. It contains some geographic breakdown of the incidents where an Garda Síochána have invoked these powers - in particular, the report states that for the period 8 April until 16 May, 44% of incidents associated with Covid-19 Policing activity occurred in the Dublin Metropolitan Region.
This and more information is available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/Use_of_Covid-19_related_powers_by_An_Garda_S%C3%ADoch%C3%A1na
