Frances Fitzgerald
Ceist:122 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of racial attacks reported nation-wide in 1995 to 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17878/00]
Written Answers. - Crime Levels.
Frances Fitzgerald
Ceist:123 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if the Garda Síochána keep statistics on racial attacks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17879/00]
Frances Fitzgerald
Ceist:124 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of racial attacks that have been reported to Gardaí in the Dublin area in each of the years 1995 to 2000; the districts the reports were made in; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17880/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 122 to 124, inclusive, together.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that offences are recorded according to the offence category of the crime committed. For example, an assault is recorded by an assault type regardless of the motivation behind it and racially motivated assaults are not routinely collected as such. I should also point out that when a crime is reported to the gardaí, the motive for the offence cannot always be identified with any degree of certainty at that stage.
I understand from the Garda authorities that the following table represents the number of crimes from 1995 to 2000 which were reported to them as being racially motivated.
|
Year |
Dublin Metropolitan Region |
Nation-wide |
|
1995 |
0 |
0 |
|
1996 |
1 |
1 |
|
1997 |
2 |
2 |
|
1998 |
9 |
11 |
|
1999 |
4 |
12 |
|
2000 |
15 |
not available |
I should emphasise, however, that for the reasons which I outlined earlier, these figures should not be regarded as definitive or comprehensive.