Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 62: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason for his failure to oppose the integration of the Prum Treaty Less Article 18 into EU law in view of the set-back this entails for data protection; the reason he failed to attend the important Council of the European Union meeting at which this was agreed by all including an Irish representative; and if he will offer a commitment that he will reject the planned future effort to integrate Article 18 of that Treaty which provides for sovereign powers for armed foreign police forces including air marshals on flights into law. [6818/07]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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Due to other urgent official commitments, I was not in a position to attend the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels on 15 February 2007. One of the items considered at the recent Council meeting was a proposed Council Decision for the integration of some of the elements of the Prum Treaty into the EU legislative framework. In the course of the discussion on this item, the Irish delegation indicated that, while it could agree generally with the approach set out in the draft Decision, certain changes and clarifications would be necessary to meet Irish requirements. In addition, it was stated by our delegation that Ireland is in the process of carrying out a detailed analysis of the legal and constitutional implications that would arise in the context of the adoption of the proposed instrument. This analysis will also take account of the relevant data protection issues.

I am not aware of any proposal to extend the application of Article 18 of the Prum Treaty to EU Member States generally. In the circumstances, I do not believe it would be appropriate for me to offer any comment in relation to that provision. The establishment of the Irish Youth Justice Service followed the Report on the Youth Justice Review. One of the findings of that Review was that there were gaps in data on youth justice and historical weaknesses in information gathering. It is a priority of the Service to address this issue and a researcher has been engaged on contract to establish baseline data from which a process of gathering longitudinal information on children who offend, including recidivism rates, can be set up. The transfer of the responsibility for the management of the children detention schools will facilitate my Department in tracking through the youth justice system those children who offend and, thereby, help establish recidivism rates in the future. The commissioning of a specific study into historical rates of recidivism amongst children who offend is being considered by my Department at present.