Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 July 2020
490. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a copy of correspondence delivered to a person (details supplied) in relation to the possible prosecution of another person on grounds of animal cruelty or relating to other matters relevant to such a prosecution mentioned in correspondence between his Department and the person will be provided. [16918/20]
Amharc ar fhreagra514. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if copies of all correspondence will be provided between his officials and a person (details supplied) relating to the possible prosecution of another person for animal cruelty. [16919/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 490 and 514 together.
A letter from a member of the public addressed to Minister Humphreys (dated January 22nd) was received in DAFM on 24th January, and was passed to the appropriate senior line manager for consideration. It was passed to the Department without any representations, notation or any other contact from Minister Humphreys. Once received the letter was passed to relevant officials for consideration, without any instruction or direction. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) cannot make the letter publically available for Data Protection reasons.
Records of correspondence between the Secretary General and DAFM officials related to the possible prosecution are attached to this reply. These records have been redacted in line with provisions under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.
I can confirm that the decision taken to withdraw the prosecution in this case was taken by the relevant officials having regard to the full and individual circumstances of this case. It is important to clarify that Prosecutors are not legally compelled to pursue all prosecution cases to a final conclusion in the courts. Occasionally, there may be instances where the facts of a case are such that proceeding with a prosecution may not be considered desirable, appropriate or justifiable.
Prosecution cases can be withdrawn for a variety of reasons. For example, decisions can be made to withdraw prosecutions based on legal advice, or as a result of a changes in circumstances or personnel of a business or the operator of a business, or because of a satisfactory resolution of the original issues that were the subject of the prosecution or, where appropriate, on humanitarian or compassionate grounds.
It is entirely a matter for DAFM to decide when it is and when it is not appropriate to proceed with a prosecution against an individual. My Department takes its prosecutorial functions very seriously and exercises prudent and careful judgement in deciding how best to manage prosecutions.
