Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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892. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of illegal narcotic seizures and the monetary value of each seizure in 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, per county, in tabular form. [27728/23]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I have contacted the Garda authorities and have been advised that An Garda Síochána is unable to provide a breakdown of seizures in the form requested by the Deputy.

Confirmation of drugs seized are subject to analysis and verification by Forensic Science Ireland, prior to publication in the Garda Annual Report. Page 94 of the 2021 report provides a breakdown of Garda seizures for that year, and can be viewed at the following link:

garda.ie/en/about-us/our-departments/office-of-corporate-communications/news-media/ags-annual-report-2021-english.pdf

The Deputy should note that these figures do not include drugs seized by other responsible State agencies, such as Revenue Customs Service.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is responsible for the compilation and publication of all crime statistics. The CSO produces these statistics using data recorded on An Garda Síochána’s PULSE system and makes regular releases under reservation in relation to various crime statistics, including recorded and detected crime. The CSO continues to work with An Garda Síochána to address quality issues in the underlying sources used to compile the statistics.

Data by Garda Division for drugs offences under the Misuse of Drugs Acts (Section 3 – Simple Possession and Section 15 – Possession for Sale or Supply) is available at the following link from Q1 2003 to Q4 2022 (the latest published data): data.cso.ie/table/CJQ06