Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 477: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding the retention by the Garda and the Director of Public Prosecutions of investigation files in respect of which a decision is taken not to press charges; if such files are kept for a specified period of time or destroyed after a specified period of time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9766/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I have requested the information sought from the Garda authorities. I will be in contact with the Deputy when this information is to hand.

In relation to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), I should say that as Minister for Justice and Equality, I play no role in the prosecution of offences, and both the decision to initiate a prosecution and the subsequent conduct of that prosecution are functions exclusively assigned (with limited exceptions) to the DPP under the Constitution and the relevant statutory provisions.