Ceist:
80 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of arrests of minors per month per Garda division from January 1999 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24331/99]
Written Answers. - Juvenile Offenders.
The Garda authorities have informed me that statistics broken down on a divisional basis are not readily available, and could only be obtained by the use of a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources.
The distinction between arrests and persons being made amenable should be borne in mind. That is to say that not all arrests lead to a person being made amenable for an offence. However, juvenile offenders, that is persons under 18 years of age, made amenable for offences are reported to the national juvenile office by means off a juvenile referral form. This includes persons who are arrested and also those who are detected without arrest, such as for example, persons who have no insurance or driving licence.
From 1 January 1999 to 31 October 1999 some 11,498 referrals for juvenile offenders were received at the national juvenile office. This gives an average number of referrals per month of 1,150 for 1999.
The number of referrals per month for 1999 is as follows
|
Month |
No. of referrals |
|
January |
1186 |
|
February |
1119 |
|
March |
1114 |
|
April |
1360 |
|
May |
1093 |
|
June |
1140 |
|
July |
1146 |
|
August |
1028 |
|
September |
1129 |
|
October |
1183 |
|
Total |
11498 |