Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

Does the Minister accept that we should set aside playing around with figures and statistics? He quotes figures showing a reduction last year, when there was an increase of 27% in aggravated sexual assaults, but I am not interested in that. We have a serious problem, and I would like the Minister to confront the facts. In the last full year, 2003-04, 1,460 cases of sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault were reported or made known to the Garda, but only 117 cases resulted in a conviction. The story is similar regarding rape of a female or under section 4. Of 370 cases reported in 2003, only 13 resulted in a conviction.

Surely those figures are horrendous, taking into account the heinous nature of the crime involved. Surely the Minister has some views regarding the cause of attrition. Is it because of a lack of counselling and support for the rape victims in such cases? Is it because of the long delays before trials? Is there a case for fast-tracking such cases and having earlier trials? Is there generally a case for more victim support from the time of the first report?

Does the Minister accept that those figures — actual statistics rather than games with percentages up or down — are much the same as in previous years? We have a massive problem with a horrendous crime which must be confronted. We must see it through the eyes of the victims to see what can be done to achieve a higher rate of conviction and, consequently, one hopes, a lower rate of crime.

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