Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 56: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress made to date on the preparation of the White Paper on Crime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28239/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I can inform the Deputy that work on the development of a White Paper on Crime, due for publication in 2011, is progressing well in my Department.

A key part of the process involves the publication of a series of discussion documents, each of which is designed to give structure to the broad range of issues which arise in this field. Submissions are invited from members of the public and other interested parties in connection with each document and a range of consultation seminars are also being held.

The first two documents have dealt with Crime Prevention and Community Safety and Criminal Sanctions respectively. Two further documents are planned, the first of which will deal with Organised, Economic and White Collar Crime and will be published this summer. A fourth document will examine the relationship between the community and the criminal justice system and is scheduled for publication at the end of the year. Consultation seminars will complement each document, as with the first two documents.

The outcome of this consultative process will feed into the final White Paper itself, which will set out the overall policy framework for strategies to combat crime into the future.

Further information on the White on Crime process can be found on my Department's website, along with copies of the discussion documents and summaries of the input received thus far. Interested parties can also register for updates by emailing whitepaperoncrime@justice.ie.