Dáil debates

Tuesday, 27 May 2008

9:00 pm

Photo of John MoloneyJohn Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Charles Flanagan for his good wishes and for displaying his usual decency. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform regrets that owing to other business he is unable to be here for the debate this evening.

In any criminal justice system it is inevitable that, at any given time, there will be a significant number of warrants awaiting execution. It should be borne in mind, too, that the vast majority of the outstanding warrants concern financial penalties, not violent crime. The Garda Síochána continues to give priority to the enforcement of warrants arising in serious cases. Apart from the large volume of warrants being issued, there can also be unavoidable reasons why warrants take time to execute or, indeed, prove ultimately unenforceable. Many individuals are subject to multiple warrants and try to evade Garda attention through moving to different addresses.

Of its nature, it is difficult to be precise as to what level of outstanding warrants at any point in time represents the optimal situation. The number of warrants outstanding has to be seen partly from the perspective that the strength of the Garda Síochána is now over 13,800.

The Minister has been informed that the Garda authorities are committed to strengthening the warrants enforcement process. The Garda Commissioner has raised the issue of the execution of warrants with each regional assistant commissioner. A range of measures aimed at reducing the number of warrants on hand has been identified and these are being implemented. The measures include the reassignment of additional gardaí to this function. The position is being closely monitored by senior Garda management and consideration is also being given, at an organisational level, to further measures to address the situation.

The Minister is also taking a number of steps to deal with this issue. A particular difficulty is that cases concerning the non-payment of fines clog up the courts system, since gardaí must seek warrants to enforce their payment. A pilot project was introduced by this Department under which outstanding fines were pursued in terms of debt collection by an outside agency rather than moving directly to the stage where gardaí seek a warrant. The pilot project suggests that this proved successful as an alternative method of fine collection. The Department, in consultation with the Garda and the Courts Service, is considering how best to take this forward.

There is also a Fines Bill currently before the House. Among other things, it provides for the payment of fines by instalment and an improved means of assessing the capacity of a person to pay a fine. These proposals, if implemented, will result in a smaller number of warrants being issued and thus reduce pressure on the warrant system. The Minister is also examining other legislative measures which might help to improve the efficiency of the fines collection system, particularly by reducing the amount of Garda time dedicated to the warrants process.

The third programme of law reform of the Law Reform Commission has been approved by Government and is now under way. It includes an examination of the enforcement of court orders and the service of proceedings in both civil and criminal cases, in particular the procedure for the execution of bench warrants and search warrants. This topic was included because it is recognised that there are significant difficulties in this area at present and that the procedural problems in this area have resulted in an inefficient use of resources. Based on experience with the Law Reform Commission, which invariably produces reports and recommendations of the highest standard, the work of the commission should prove of immense value in this area.

The Minister and the Garda Commissioner are aware of the importance of administering an efficient warrants process and will continue to monitor the operation of the system with a view to making whatever changes may be necessary to improve its operation.

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