Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am advised that, at the end of the second quarter of this year, there were in the order of 113,500 outstanding warrants on PULSE. This figure had reduced from a level of approximately 122,000 at the start of the year. I am further advised that an inspector in each Garda district in the Dublin metropolitan region and in each division outside the region is tasked with managing the execution of warrants and other issues relating to them. In addition, specific members of the force are tasked with their execution and there is ongoing liaison with the Prison Service and the Courts Service, as well as with other State agencies on these matters.

Genuine difficulties can arise where it does not prove possible to enforce a warrant and it is important that systems are in place to ensure that warrants are enforced as quickly as possible. In this regard, I have been assured that An Garda Síochána gives priority to the execution of warrants in respect of serious crime and will continue to do so. I am conscious that difficulties in the execution of warrants have been a matter of concern over many years. It is also true that this is a longstanding difficulty for many police forces around the world. I welcome the analysis provided by the Garda Síochána Inspectorate on warrants in the recent crime investigation report.

The inspectorate report, as the Deputy has seen, acknowledges the difficulties often faced by gardaí in pursuing the execution of warrants but it also points to significant deficiencies in the current systems in this area and makes a number of short, medium and longer term recommendations in the report. Some of the difficulties are very much tied to the technology, which must be addressed. I am working with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, to secure the necessary and early investment in upgrading Garda technology. It is extremely important.

Highlighted in the report is the number of warrants generated as a result of non-payment of fines and in circumstances where imprisonment was over time the only option available to the court. Under the Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014, alternatives to imprisonment are now provided for, and the aim is to reduce significantly the number of persons committed for non-payment. That should also reduce the number of warrants which the force is obliged to enforce.

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