Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2024
424. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Justice , further to Parliamentary Question No. 921 of 9 April, if further clarification will be provided on what specifically the figures for offences and convictions are in respect of the second table; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17318/24]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, management of the courts, including operational matters and logistical functions, are the responsibility of the judiciary and Courts Service, which are independent in exercising their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998 and given the separation of powers in the Constitution.
The Courts Service has a dedicated email address for the provision of information to members of the Houses of the Oireachtas: oireachtasenquiries@courts.ie.
To be of assistance, I have contacted the Courts Service on the Deputy's behalf and requested, as per the Deputy's clarification, a breakdown of what specific offence type people were convicted of.
I am advised by the Courts Service that there is only one offence code for breach, and the prosecutor would state in the body of the offence what was breached. Unfortunately, the courts service cannot break down this information into categories of what was breached.
Additionally, as the Deputy may be aware section 33. (1) of the Domestic Violence Act 2018 provides that a respondent who—
(a) contravenes a safety order, a barring order, an interim barring order, an emergency barring order or a protection order, or
(b) while a barring order, an emergency barring order or an interim barring order is in force, refuses to permit the applicant or a dependent person to enter in and remain in the place to which the order relates or does any act for the purpose of preventing the applicant or dependent person from so doing, commits an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a class B fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both.
