Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 May 2021
494. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice the number of successful convictions obtained for the offence of criminal damage in Garda J district in 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27803/21]
View answer495. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice the number of successful convictions obtained for the offence of violent disorder in Garda R district in 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27804/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 494 and 495 together.
I have contacted the Courts Service for the information requested by the Deputy and have been advised that it is not possible to provide a report identifying the number of convictions for offences in a particular area of Dublin.
It should be noted that violent disorder is an indictable offence. Criminal damage may be tried summarily or on indictment. These offences can be dealt with in either the District or the Circuit Court and many of those offences can be sent forward from the District Court for trial to the Circuit Court. The following statistics relate to the District Court only, as the system used for Circuit Court matters is unable to produce reports for specific offences
The Courts Service has advised that the number of persons and the number of offences where convictions were recorded for the offences of Violent Disorder and Criminal Damage in the Dublin Metropolitan District in 2020, and as of 31 March 2021 is as follows:
|
VIOLENT DISORDER |
CRIMINAL DAMAGE |
|||
|
Year |
No of Offences |
No of Persons |
No of Offences |
No of Persons |
|
Jan - Dec 2020 |
5 |
5 |
262 |
212 |
|
Jan - Mar 2021 |
3 |
3 |
83 |
77 |
It is not possible for the Courts Service to produce reports for specific offences. The only available reports are by offence category, rather than for individual offences. Categories of offences can contain multiple offences.
The Deputy should also note that the Courts Service can only provide data in instances where offence codes provided on the system were used by prosecutors. Prosecutors may have used un-coded free text offences and any such offences are not be included in the data provided.
