Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 January 2022
1249. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons convicted of breaching domestic violence orders; the number of cases which resulted in jail terms for the perpetrators in 2019, 2020 and 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1202/22]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions. This includes the provision of information on the courts system.
To be of assistance, I made enquiries with the Courts Service, who have informed me that they can only provide data where offence codes provided on the system were used by prosecutors. Where prosecutors may have used free text, such offences would not be included in the data provided.
The table below displays the number of offences and the number of persons in the District Court where convictions have been recorded for the time period requested.
|
Year |
No. of offences where convictions were recorded |
No. of persons convicted |
|
Jan-Dec 2019 |
531 |
389 |
|
Jan-Dec 2020 |
547 |
393 |
|
Jan-Dec 2021 |
782 |
530 |
|
Total |
1,860 |
1,312 |
The following table displays the number of court orders for imprisonments in the District Court. Please note that a person may receive more than one sentence of imprisonment e.g. a person may have more than one offence and received imprisonment on one offence and imprisonment suspended on the other offence.
|
|
Jan - Dec 2019 |
Jan - Dec 2020 |
Jan - Dec 2021 |
|
Court Order |
No. of Orders |
No. of Orders |
No. of Orders |
|
Imprisonment |
180 |
164 |
261 |
|
Imprisonment - Part Suspended |
21 |
15 |
17 |
|
Imprisonment - Suspended |
179 |
254 |
322 |
|
Total |
380 |
433 |
600 |
I can assure the Deputy that tackling domestic, sexual and gender based violence is a top priority for me and for Government.
I am committed to placing victims at the centre of our criminal justice system, through the implementation of Supporting a Victims Journey. This is a detailed roadmap, which when implemented, will ensure we have a more victim-centred system that supports and empowers victims and gives them the confidence to engage with all services knowing they will be supported, informed and treated with respect and dignity by every person they come into contact with.
An Garda Síochána continue to develop their specialist services in this area. Divisional Protective Services Unit (DPSU) have been rolled out nationwide to provide a best practice service in relation to all domestic abuse incidents. Operation Faoiseamh which commenced on 1 April 2020 continues to provide enhanced proactive support and protection to victims of domestic abuse.
