Results 8,361-8,380 of 35,131 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: -----versus what is going through the Garda and whether it is possible for anyone to deal with it. I am just reading through the DPP's annual report and I see details of the main reasons for a direction not to prosecute. Really, in 80% of cases the reason is insufficient evidence.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: That is the most common reason the DPP gives for not prosecuting. That is fair enough. One needs evidence. I am interested in page 22, "Case Results - Prosecutions on Indictment". The conviction rate in 2014, according to page 22, if I am reading the chart right, was 77%.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: In 2015 it was 75%, and in 2016 it was 66%. The DPP's conviction rate on indictment seems to be declining. Why is this?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Yes. They are a full year.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Mr. Donoghue is saying the figures for 2016 are for cases just at the end of 2016, even though some of them might have been successfully convicted in 2017.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Has Mr. Donoghue a figure, then, for cases concluded in each of the years? That is probably the rate we are really interested in - not cases that commenced, but cases that concluded. People are more interested in the outcome of a court case, not day one of the case.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: None of those figures would indicate a figure of anything like that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: This is Mr. Donoghue's annual report. I ask him to explain it to me.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Can Mr. Donoghue come back and give a reconciliation between that figure and this chart?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: That chart does not give me a figure of anything like that. That is all I am saying.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: The fees paid to counsel are on page 51, which have been discussed. Almost half the figure, 47%, is for Circuit Court work.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Would that be the standard rule of thumb?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: I see from page 62 that 60% of that would be in the Dublin District Court.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Quite a proportion of the legal fees paid by Mr. Donoghue's office would be at Circuit Court level in the Dublin region.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: I have a simple question, although I do not know if the answer will be simple. What is the office's success rate in the courts? Is the conviction rate 94%? Is that at District Court level? Will Mr. Donoghue give us a breakdown of the office's success rate in the District Court, Circuit Court and so on? The office must have statistics on that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: In terms of the volume of cases going before the courts, Mr. Donoghue said 200,000 cases go before the District Court each year.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Approximately how many cases go before all the other courts?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: What is the approximate figure?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: It is referred on day one.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: We are interested in outcomes, not of individual cases but the office's overall success rate. I know everything starts in the District Court. I presume the office's success rate is quite high.