Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 February 2021
723. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice the number of bicycles reported to gardaí that were stolen from Irish Rail stations in Dublin in 2019, 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9813/21]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that the Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including operational matters and recording of crimes. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.
The Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 provides for offences of theft, the handling of stolen property and the possession of stolen property. The offence of theft provided for by this legislation would, based on the broad nature of the offence, include the theft of bicycles. Maximum sentences of 10 years are provided for in the case of offences of theft and handling of stolen property; while maximum sentences of 5 years are provided for the offence of possession of stolen property.
As the Deputy will fully appreciate, the Garda Commissioner and his management team are responsible for putting in place targeted Garda operations to tackle bike thefts in Dublin.
Community Gardaí are also available to provide crime prevention advice to residents' groups in areas affected by thefts, and Garda members keep injured parties appraised as to the status of investigations at all times.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that to try and identify all bicycle thefts which occurred at ‘Rail Stations’ based on that location type and scanning of narratives or using keywords on the address fields of the Garda PULSE system, would require a significant manual trawl of a high number of incidents. This would be a disproportionate use of Garda resources. An Garda Síochána is therefore not in a position to provide the information requested by the Deputy.
