Skip to main content
Normal View

Departmental Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 February 2022

Tuesday, 22 February 2022

Questions (627, 628, 629)

Carol Nolan

Question:

627. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Justice the number of offences committed against women contrary to each of the sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 15 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 in each of the years 2010 to 2021 and to date in 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9124/22]

View answer

Carol Nolan

Question:

628. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Justice the number of offences committed against women contrary to each of the sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 in each of the years 2010 2021 and to date in 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9125/22]

View answer

Carol Nolan

Question:

629. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Justice the number of homicides against women for each of the years from 2010 to 2021 and to date in 2022; the total number of homicides for the same time period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9126/22]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 627 to 629, inclusive, together.

It has not been possible to obtain the information requested by the Deputy in the timeframe permitted. Once this information is received I will write to the Deputy.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51
I refer to Parliamentary Question’s No. 627, 628, 629 for answer on 22 February 2022 in which you requested information on figures relating to a number of different criminal offences in each of the years from 2010 to 2021 and to date in 2022.
On foot of your questions, I reached out to both the Garda Commissioner and the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Unfortunately they were not in a position to supply the information you sought to answer your question in the time permitted. I am pleased to say that I have now received the information which I am happy to share it with you.
As I am sure you know, I am currently leading on a new whole-of-government strategy to combat domestic, sexual, gender-based violence. The goal of the strategy is zero tolerance in our society for any form of domestic, sexual or gender based violence and it will be structured around the four pillars of the Istanbul Convention:
- Prevention,
- Protection,
- Prosecution, and
- Co-ordinated Policies.
The Strategy will recognise that while both men and women can be victims/survivors, women and girls are disproportionately affected. As a result, there is an emphasis within the strategy on meeting the needs of women and girls.
I have been informed that An Garda Síochána are not in a position at this time to provide the level of detail you requested in your questions. There are a number of reasons for this:
- In relation to homicides, this is due to the fact that the work of the Homicide Investigation Review Team (HIRT) is on-going. The HIRT was established to review the classification of incidents on PULSE that were not classified as homicides, but may have been incorrectly classified;
- In relation to your other questions, An Garda Síochána is currently working on a thematic report to examine the issue of gender based violence. Findings of this work will be developed into a proactive publication which will be available on the Garda website. This is a complex area and the Garda Síochána Analysis Service (GSAS) are keen to ensure that all relevant elements are included.
The CSO have been able to provide information on the topics you raised but have asked that the following be noted:
- The figures provided are for victims of recorded crime incidents by sex in respect of homicide, Sexual Assault and Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assaults, Harassment and Related offences. The CSO does not have any this information on the linkage between criminal incidents and the section of law which has been used in relation to those incidents and so have instead provided the overall figures for sexual assault and Attempts/Threats to Murder etc.
- The measure used in CSO Crime Statistics is incidents received rather than offences . An incident reported or which becomes known to An Garda Síochána is recorded as a crime incident if a member of An Garda Síochána determines that, on the balance of probability, a criminal offence defined by law has taken place, and there is no credible evidence to the contrary.
- Data is only available from 2012 onwards and the most recently published data is for 2020. 2021 data will be published once we have assessed the quality and completeness of same.
These statistics are categorised as Under Reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by the CSO.

Question No. 628 answered with Question No. 627.
Question No. 629 answered with Question No. 627.
Top
Share