Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 6 Nov 2003

Vol. 573 No. 5

Written Answers. - Drug Trafficking.

John Deasy

Ceist:

178 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has satisfied himself with the number of occasions the amendment effected by section 5 of the Criminal Justice Act 1999 has been availed of; and if it has been effective in countering the activities of drug dealers. [26032/03]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell)

Part II of the Criminal Justice Act 1999 came into effect on 26 May 1999. Section 4 provides for the creation of a new offence related to the possession of drugs with a value of €12,697 or more for the purpose of sale or supply. This crime is punishable by a sentence of up to life imprisonment.

Section 5 provides that the court shall, in imposing sentence, specify a minimum period of imprisonment to be served of not less than ten years upon conviction for the offence. It also provides that a court is entitled to depart from the imposition of the minimum sentence where there are exceptional and specific circumstances relating to the offence, or the person convicted of the offence, that would make it unjust in all the circumstances to impose the minimum ten year sentence. Factors the court may have regard to in this respect include whether the person pleaded guilty. If this is the case the stage they indicated the intention to plead guilty and the circumstances in which the indication was given and whether the person materially assisted the investigation of the offence.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that, according to their records, the number of persons convicted under section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977-84 since it became law on 26 May 1999 is 276. Under this provision the number of persons who have received prison sentences of ten years or more to date is 12.

The information available to me suggests two things. First, that the provision has resulted in a significant number of drug traffickers pleading guilty to serious drug trafficking offences. Second, it has resulted in the imposition of substantial sentences for such offences including the imposition of the minimum mandatory sentence of at least ten years in a number of cases.

My Department has commissioned a study of convictions for the new drug trafficking offence created by section 4 and I am awaiting the results. Preliminary indications from the study suggest that the main factors taken into account by the courts in situations where a sentence of less than ten years has been imposed are where the accused pleads guilty to the offence, co-operates with the prosecuting authorities, and materially assists the Garda Síochána with its investigations.

The provisions under section 5 of the Criminal Justice Act 1999 is one of a number of legislative instruments designed to address the issue of national and international drug trafficking. As with other instruments the problem is constantly monitored to ensure that the appropriate measures are in place to address the issue.