Bench Warrants

Wednesday, 28 April 2021

Ceisteanna (816)

Cormac Devlin

Ceist:

816. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Justice the number of outstanding bench warrants in each of the years 2016 to 2020, by county in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21627/21]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice

As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is statutorily responsible for carrying on and managing and controlling generally the administration and business of An Garda Síochána including the maintenance of certain databases.

I have asked the Garda authorities for the information requested and I will write directly to the Deputy when it is available.

However, to be of assistance, I can provide the latest figures for each Garda Division provided to me in response to a previous question.

The table below, furnished to me by the Garda authorities, shows the number of outstanding bench warrants as of 31 December 2020 for each Garda Division.

Division	Outstanding Warrants
D.M.R. Eastern	762
D.M.R. North Central	5811
D.M.R. Northern	4490
D.M.R. South Central	1848
D.M.R. Southern	3115
D.M.R. Western	5317
Kildare Division	868
Kilkenny/Carlow	668
Laois/Offaly	233
Meath Division	448
Waterford Division	394
Westmeath Division	281
Wexford Division	419
Wicklow Division	467
Cavan/Monaghan	892
Donegal	789
Galway Division	833
Louth Division	620
Mayo	230
Roscommon/Longford Division	170
Sligo/Leitrim	282
Clare	178
Cork City	1015
Cork North	325
Cork West	169
Kerry	462
Limerick	989
Tipperary	489

I am informed that these figures were collated based on PULSE data as of 4 February 2021. As they constitute real time operational data, they are liable to change.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51

I refer to Parliamentary Question number 816 of 28 April 2021 where you asked for the number of outstanding bench warrants in each of the years 2016 to 2020, by county; and in tabular form.

You will recall that the information could not be obtained in the time available and Minister McEntee undertook to consult with An Garda Síochána and contact you again when the requested information was available.

As you will appreciate, difficulties in relation to the execution of warrants, including bench warrants, are a long-standing issue for many police services around the world; notably relating to persons actively seeking to evade detection and where limited identification information might be available to support enforcement. I am assured, however, that An Garda Síochána execute warrants as expeditiously as possible, giving priority to the execution of warrants relating to serious crimes.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the appended table shows the number of outstanding bench warrants by Garda division in each of the years 2016 to 2020. The figures for each year represent a view of the data at each year end and as such should not be taken as being cumulative figures of currently outstanding bench warrants.

I trust this information is of assistance.

Appendix

The table below shows counts of outstanding bench warrants per Garda Division that were outstanding on the 31st of December for each of the years listed.

Region	Division	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Dublin Region	D.M.R. Eastern	650	704	896	985	782
D.M.R. North Central	5845	6042	6195	6173	5853
D.M.R. Northern	3168	3387	3936	4861	4552
D.M.R. South Central	2226	2026	2243	2253	1890
D.M.R. Southern	3224	3245	3617	3331	3250
D.M.R. Western	4624	4762	5322	5668	5385
Eastern Region	Kildare	701	739	1007	1157	888
Kilkenny/ Carlow	543	582	973	1000	706
Laois/Offaly	206	182	336	329	283
Meath	515	536	631	620	464
Waterford	358	350	512	485	407
Westmeath	360	403	663	485	284
Wexford	404	397	596	635	489
Wicklow	380	393	749	536	526
North Western Region	Cavan/ Monaghan	680	691	876	894	920
Donegal	539	574	752	796	839
Galway	692	641	915	1143	841
Louth	591	579	665	809	651
Mayo	324	306	270	268	234
Roscommon/Longford	219	205	300	233	173
Sligo/Leitrim	166	212	316	316	291
Southern Region	Clare	177	163	354	333	207
Cork City	753	750	1435	990	1042
Cork North	255	251	424	389	343
Cork West	149	161	229	210	173
Kerry	669	737	649	550	467
Limerick	606	624	1285	1433	1184
Tipperary	341	431	766	906	524
	Total	29,365	30,073	36,912	37,788	33,648

The figures for each year represent a view of the data at each year end and as such should not be taken as being cumulative figures of currently outstanding bench warrants.

Additional Information

Figures were collated based on PULSE data as of 1:30am on the 17th May, 2021. They are operational and may be liable to change.