Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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154. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he is considering adding possession of a controlled substance, namely cannabis resin, contrary to section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977 to 1984, to the schedule of offences in respect of which the adult caution scheme applies; if he will provide details of the consultation between An Garda Síochána, the Director of Public Prosecutions and his Department in respect which the offence of possession of a controlled drug was withdrawn from the said schedule prior to the implementation of the scheme, according to the reply provided by his Department in response to a parliamentary question in 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49723/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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As outlined in the reply to the Parliamentary Question to which the Deputy refers, the Adult Cautioning Scheme was introduced in 2006 as a response to a recommendation in the 1999 Nally Report on the Public Prosecution System.

The Report recommended that "as a measure to reduce the volume of cases prosecuted through the Courts" a system should be introduced whereby offenders would, in certain circumstances specified from time to time by the Director of Public Prosecutions, be issued with warnings instead of being prosecuted.

The Scheme makes provision for the administering of a caution by a senior Garda officer for certain minor offences, as an alternative to prosecution in the District Court, where prosecution is not required by the public interest and it is determined that a caution would be an effective response.

The Scheme, which was drawn up in the first instance in agreement between the Garda authorities and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, is kept under review. Any proposal to expand the scheme is a matter, in the first instance, for the Garda authorities and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

As the Deputy notes it is the case that consideration was given at the time of the Scheme's introduction to include offences under section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977 to 1984 related to the possession of cannabis within its scope, but I understand that following consultations it was decided not to include these offences at that time.

In 2009, following a review of the Scheme by An Garda Síochána and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the schedule of offences to which the Scheme applies was extended to further include certain offences under the following Acts only - the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offence) Act 2001, the Dublin Police Act 1842, the Intoxicating Liquor Act 1927, the Licensing Act 1872 and the Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Amendment Act 1871.

I have not received any further proposals for the inclusion of the offences referred to by the Deputy and, accordingly, I am not considering the matter.