Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 February 2022
365. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Justice the number of arrests that were made of persons who were under 18 years of age by the category of the arrest, for example, possession of drugs and so on, by county in each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5644/22]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027 was launched in April 2021. The immediate priority within the Strategy is to enhance engagement with children and young people who are most at risk of involvement in criminal activity, principally by strengthening the services available through the existing network of 105 Youth Diversion Projects (YDPs) across the State.
YDPs engage with young people through a range of supports, including education, training and employment support, social enterprise initiatives, as well as personal development activities and supports such as mentoring.
Dedicated cross-agency oversight structures have been established to monitor and support the implementation of the Youth Justice Strategy, and these are further assisted by a Youth Justice Advisory Group that provides a standing forum to reflect views and concerns from the community sector and expert stakeholders.
The table below, which has been provided to me by the Garda authorities, sets out the number of persons under the age of 18 years associated with prisoner logs by Division for the period 1 January 2017 up to 31 December 2021. The information has been compiled following a search of the PULSE database for prisoner logs associated with persons under the age of 18 years old at time of arrest.
I am advised by An Garda Síochána that to provide a breakdown of all offences as requested by the Deputy would require an inordinate expenditure of Garda time and resources, as the scope of the request is so large.
However, An Garda Síochána have been able to advise that approximately 29% of all arrests over this 5 year period related to Public Order Offences, 19% related to Theft Offences and 7% related to Drugs Offences.
|
Division |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
Cavan/Monaghan |
184 |
166 |
133 |
103 |
83 |
|
Clare |
87 |
63 |
50 |
53 |
26 |
|
Cork City |
345 |
323 |
380 |
304 |
328 |
|
Cork North |
83 |
111 |
135 |
103 |
94 |
|
Cork West |
67 |
69 |
68 |
56 |
40 |
|
D.M.R. Eastern |
344 |
303 |
366 |
304 |
210 |
|
D.M.R. North Central |
421 |
309 |
289 |
247 |
198 |
|
D.M.R. Northern |
488 |
511 |
584 |
639 |
487 |
|
D.M.R. South Central |
425 |
403 |
352 |
458 |
496 |
|
D.M.R. Southern |
573 |
415 |
530 |
657 |
621 |
|
D.M.R. Western |
468 |
448 |
590 |
498 |
437 |
|
Donegal |
93 |
89 |
179 |
82 |
101 |
|
Galway Division |
169 |
183 |
128 |
107 |
143 |
|
Kerry |
141 |
127 |
157 |
108 |
96 |
|
Kildare Division |
169 |
191 |
202 |
179 |
216 |
|
Kilkenny/Carlow |
165 |
113 |
128 |
122 |
99 |
|
Laois/Offaly |
175 |
184 |
173 |
93 |
109 |
|
Limerick |
296 |
279 |
253 |
204 |
121 |
|
Louth Division |
132 |
114 |
107 |
156 |
89 |
|
Mayo |
60 |
78 |
69 |
47 |
35 |
|
Meath Div |
209 |
234 |
218 |
186 |
122 |
|
Roscommon/Longford Division |
89 |
85 |
96 |
114 |
80 |
|
Sligo/Leitrim |
45 |
29 |
36 |
16 |
12 |
|
Tipperary |
185 |
174 |
119 |
98 |
102 |
|
Waterford Division |
140 |
184 |
168 |
225 |
209 |
|
Westmeath Division |
105 |
67 |
114 |
95 |
90 |
|
Wexford Division |
125 |
133 |
77 |
72 |
58 |
|
Wicklow Division |
205 |
152 |
204 |
121 |
140 |
|
Grand Total |
5988 |
5537 |
5905 |
5447 |
4842 |
Incident data is based upon operational data from the PULSE system as was available at 01:00 on 31/01/2022 and is liable to change.
