Pearse Doherty
Question:
264. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 244 and 245 of 1 June 2023, the number of reported cases made to An Garda Síochána with respect to financial fraud; the number of cases investigated with respect to same; the number of cases closed with conviction with respect to same; the value of money recovered with respect to same in each of the years 2016 to date in 2023, in tabular form, across relevant categories as per aforementioned replies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54230/23]
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Pearse Doherty
Question:
265. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 244 and 245 of 1 June 2023, the number of reported cases made to An Garda Síochána with respect to authorised push payment fraud; the number of cases investigated with respect to same; the number of cases closed with conviction with respect to same; the value of money recovered with respect to same in each of the years 2016 to date in 2023, in tabular form across relevant categories as per aforementioned parliamentary question replies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54231/23]
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 264 and 265 together.
It has not been possible to collate the information requested in the time allowed. I will write to the Deputy directly when the information is to hand.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51
I refer to Parliamentary Questions No. 264 & 265 of 7 December 2023 where you sought: “To ask the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 244 and 245 of 1 June 2023, the number of reported cases made to An Garda Síochána with respect to financial fraud; the number of cases investigated with respect to same; the number of cases closed with conviction with respect to same; the value of money recovered with respect to same in each of the years 2016 to date in 2023, in tabular form, across relevant categories as per aforementioned replies; and if she will make a statement on the matter” and;
“To ask the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 244 and 245 of 1 June 2023, the number of reported cases made to An Garda Síochána with respect to authorised push payment fraud; the number of cases investigated with respect to same; the number of cases closed with conviction with respect to same; the value of money recovered with respect to same in each of the years 2016 to date in 2023, in tabular form across relevant categories as per aforementioned parliamentary question replies; and if she will make a statement on the matter.”
As you will recall, I had sought the information you requested from the Garda authorities and undertook to contact you again once the information was to hand.
Every person in Ireland deserves to feel safe and to be safe when they conduct their personal business online or over the phone, and so the practice of trying to trick people out of their personal information or hard-earned money is not tolerated.
Combatting and preventing various types of fraudulent crime falls under the remit of several Departments and agencies. I can assure you that these crimes are not taken lightly by this Government, or by Gardaí, who are committed to tackling this form of crime, which particularly targets vulnerable people and businesses.
As the Deputy 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 the investigation of crime. As Minister for Justice, I have no role in these matters.
I can however assure you that the Government is committed to ensuring An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs to deliver a modern, fit-for-purpose, policing service. The 2024 budget for An Garda Síochána provides funding of over €2.3 billion. This includes funding for between 800 - 1,000 new Gardaí and 250 Garda staff.
You may be aware that the Central Statistics Office - Recorded Crime Statistics Q3 2023 as published 20 December 2023, noted crime incidents involving Fraud, Deception & Related offences were down 27% to 10,629 over the same period mostly due to a fall in incidents of unauthorised transactions and attempts to obtain personal or banking information online or by phone.
I am informed that there has been a 16% increase in resourcing provided to Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) since the end of 2020. I am also informed that GNECB is also providing training and support to all Garda Divisions in how to investigate fraud.
To be of assistance, I sought the requested information from An Garda Síochána and I am informed that the following are the counts for each economic crime type reported over a 5-year period. I am informed that crime counting rules have been applied and that the data is operational data and liable to change. Counts less than 10 are indicated with an <.
|
Incident Type
|
2019
|
2020
|
2021
|
2022
|
*2023
|
|
Incident Type
|
2019
|
2020
|
2021
|
2022
|
*2023
|
|
Accommodation Fraud
|
232
|
229
|
275
|
382
|
291
|
|
Account Take Over Fraud
|
363
|
552
|
3549
|
2340
|
1353
|
|
ATM Fraud/Black Box attacks
|
66
|
14
|
15
|
29
|
14
|
|
Bogus Tradesman Fraud
|
120
|
123
|
130
|
144
|
134
|
|
Bribery & Corruption
|
<
|
<
|
<
|
<
|
<
|
|
Business E-Mail Compromise
|
457
|
333
|
289
|
259
|
184
|
|
Card Not Present Fraud
|
609
|
545
|
3781
|
1555
|
740
|
|
Cheque Fraud
|
129
|
72
|
39
|
33
|
51
|
|
Companies Act Offences
|
12
|
14
|
<
|
<
|
<
|
|
Counterfeiting Notes and Coins
|
1006
|
396
|
287
|
218
|
171
|
|
Counterfeiting of Goods
|
34
|
26
|
17
|
18
|
11
|
|
Deception/Other
|
3125
|
2780
|
3968
|
3114
|
3733
|
|
Employee/Internal Fraud
|
169
|
103
|
75
|
99
|
83
|
|
European Communities Fraud
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
<
|
0
|
|
False Pretences
|
<
|
<
|
<
|
<
|
<
|
|
Falsification of Accounts
|
<
|
<
|
<
|
0
|
<
|
|
Forgery / False Instrument Offences
|
867
|
862
|
694
|
618
|
518
|
|
Insurance Fraud
|
155
|
122
|
109
|
105
|
63
|
|
Investment Fraud
|
50
|
141
|
248
|
183
|
328
|
|
Investment Intermediaries Act
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
<
|
<
|
|
Loan/Mortgage Fraud
|
42
|
37
|
40
|
50
|
51
|
|
Money Laundering
|
255
|
633
|
854
|
572
|
542
|
|
Phishing/Vishing/Smishing Frauds
|
320
|
479
|
2340
|
1718
|
2240
|
|
Possession of an Article (Fraud)
|
10
|
10
|
<
|
<
|
<
|
|
Romance Fraud
|
36
|
44
|
87
|
67
|
38
|
|
Shopping/Online Auction Fraud
|
414
|
702
|
817
|
697
|
777
|
|
Welfare/Benefit Fraud
|
62
|
102
|
166
|
56
|
80
|
* 2023 up to 18 December.
The data is provided from 2019 onwards, as most of these fraud/economic crime incident types were introduced in PULSE during late 2018.
I am also advised by the Garda authorities that information in relation to the number of convictions under these incident types is not readily available and would require a disproportionate amount of Garda time and resources to compile.
Question No. 265 answered with Question No. 264.
