Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
1561. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of times that members of An Garda Síochána discharged a firearm during the course of their duty in 2019, 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [40574/22]
View answerI have contacted An Garda Síochána for the information requested by the Deputy, regretfully this information was not available in time. I will write to the Deputy once the information is to hand.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51:
As you will recall, Minister McEntee sought the information from the Garda authorities and undertook to contact you again once the information was to hand. As I have since taken office I am responding to your question.
As you will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the administration and management of An Garda Síochána, including operational policing matters. As Minister, I have no direct role.
I am advised by the Garda authorities that the table below sets out the number of times that members of An Garda Síochána discharged a firearm during the course of their duty in 2019 to 2021 and to-date in 2022.
|
Year |
Lethal |
* Less / Non Lethal |
Total |
|
2019 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
2020 |
7 |
9 |
16 |
|
2021 |
8 |
5 |
13 |
|
2022 (up to October 2022) |
0 |
3 |
3 |
* Less lethal weapons are designed to cause less serious injuries than traditional firearms, while non-lethal weapons are designed to disable or subdue an assailant without causing death or serious injury.
Further information can be found using the below link:
https://garda.ie/en/information-centre/statistics/
