Garda Operations

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 September 2020

Tuesday, 15 September 2020

Questions (620)

Seán Sherlock

Question:

620. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Justice the number and value of fireworks seized by An Garda Síochána in each of the years 2016 to 2019 and to date in 2020, both nationally and within Dublin city; the number of persons prosecuted for possession of illegal fireworks during the same period, both nationally and within Dublin city; the amounts spent by her Department on advertising campaigns relating to fireworks in each of the years 2016 to 2019; the funding allocated by her Department for advertising campaigns relating to fireworks in 2020; the date her Department plans to launch an advertising campaign relating to fireworks in advance of Hallowe'en 2020; and if she will consider bringing forward the launch date of a planned advertising campaign regarding fireworks to include the entirety of October 2020. [24146/20]

Written answers

Minister for Justice

I have requested the information sought by the Deputy on the number and value of fireworks seized from An Garda Síochána.

In addition, the information on the related advertising campaign is currently being collated and verified.

I will write directly to the Deputy when this information is received.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51

I refer to Parliamentary Question Number 620 which was for answer on 15 September 2020 where you requested information relating to firework seizures and the budget allocation for my department's fireworks awareness campaign.

As you may recall the information you requested could not be obtained in the time available and I undertook to contact you again when the information was to hand.

The information on the related advertising campaign has now been collated and accordingly, please note the following;

The campaigns in 2016 and 2017 were predominately newspaper based. However, from 2018 onwards they have focused more on an online presence. The 2020 campaign will be launched in the coming weeks. The costs associated with this campaign from 2016 onwards are provided in the table below.

Year	Cost
2019	€17,840.81
2018	€29,090.89
2017	€36,676.44
2016	€34,680.70

The figure for 2019 includes spending on research into the effectiveness of the campaign.

I will revert to you again when the information regarding the number and value of fireworks seized is received from An Garda Síochána.