Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 30: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on the low level of detections in respect of rape cases; the steps he intends to take to achieve a higher level of detection in such cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21471/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I want to emphasise that the Government places a high priority on putting into place measures aimed at tackling crimes of domestic violence, rape, sexual assault and other crimes of violence against women. In this regard, my Department, which is one of five Departments with responsibilities in this area, plays a major role in that it has responsibility for legislative initiatives and preventative measures that can be put in place, such as intervention programmes for perpetrators of domestic violence, awareness raising measures aimed at changing society's attitude to domestic violence and identifying and developing any necessary responses from the civil and criminal justice systems.

While I have always urged caution in the interpretation of short-term statistics, I was pleased to note decreases in aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault — the largest category of sexual offences - rape of a female and unlawful carnal knowledge in the provisional headline crime figures for the quarter ending 31 March 2005 compared with the corresponding quarter last year. I was concerned, however, to see a recorded increase in the number of cases of rape under section 4 of the Crimine Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990.

With regard to the number of detections, I assure the Deputy that any incident of rape or sexual assault reported to the Garda Síochána is fully investigated, as much evidence as possible is gathered and, subsequently, a file is forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for a direction as to whether a prosecution should proceed.

As the Deputy is aware, the Director of Public Prosecutions is statutorily independent in the performance of his function and it would, therefore, be inappropriate for me to comment on his decisions.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that in the majority of cases the victim knows their assailant's identity. A study carried out by the research unit, Garda College for the period 1994-97 shows that 87% of the victims knew their assailant's identity.

The Garda Síochána actively encourages people who are the victims of any crime to report the offence to the gardaí. In addition, a number of established initiatives underpin this policy, such as the Garda confidential telephone number, Crimestoppers and Crimecall.

As I have outlined to the House on a number of occasions, there is a high attrition rate in rape cases in Ireland, and a large number of cases reported to the gardaí do not reach prosecution stage for a variety of reasons.

My Department has approved joint funding for comprehensive research into attrition rates in rape cases. The research, which is entitled "The Understanding of Attrition, Early Withdrawal, the Trial Process and Identifying Possible Changes to Support Complainants in Rape Cases", is being carried out by the department of law at the National University of Ireland, Galway and the Rape Crisis Network Ireland, is being conducted over three years and is expected to be completed in 2007-08. This research should provide a greater understanding as to why some victims choose not to report cases to the gardaí, what can be done about under-reporting and why, of the cases that are reported, only a relatively small percentage result in a court hearing. It is important to note that, with regard to conviction rates, judges are independent in the exercise of their judicial functions and subject only to the constitution and the law. It would therefore be inappropriate for me to comment on their decisions.

Following completion of this research, action will, as appropriate, be taken to resolve any issue that may arise.