Written answers

Tuesday, 8 July 2014

Department of Justice and Equality

Crime Data

Photo of Brendan GriffinBrendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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634. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of bicycle thefts per annum per Garda district for the past five years; her plans to address this problem; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29307/14]

Photo of Brendan GriffinBrendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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635. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of convictions for bicycle theft per Garda district in the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29308/14]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 634 and 635 together.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that a range of operational measures are pursued to combat bicycle theft and to target those who may engage in it, and there is ongoing provision by An Garda Síochána of crime prevention information, and awareness raising among the general public in relation to bicycle theft. Insofar as the statistics sought are concerned, the Garda Síochána Act 2005 makes provision for the compilation and publication of crime statistics by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), as the national statistical agency, and the CSO has established a dedicated unit for this purpose. I have requested the CSO to provide statistics directly to the Deputy.

Photo of Niall CollinsNiall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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636. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide in tabular form per annum and per prison the total number of violent criminal incidents in prisons here in 2011, 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014. [29318/14]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy on the number of assaults by prisoners per annum and per prison for 2011, 2012 and 2013 is set out in the following table.

Prison/Place of DetentionNumber of assaults by prisoners  2013Number of assaults by prisoners 2012Number of assaults by prisoners 2011
Arbour Hill741
Castlerea1158078
Cloverhill88106144
Cork385090
Dóchas Centre282822
Limerick36 5578
Loughan House014
Midlands9578113
Mountjoy (Male) 141111177
St.Patrick's Institution106 192415
Portlaoise81219
Shelton Abbey010
Training Unit000
Wheatfield87 104129
PSEC904
Total7588221274

I can advise the Deputy that the number of assaults by prisoners in each prison for January to June 2014 is not yet available. The Information is being collated by the Irish Prison Service and I will forward a reply to the Deputy as soon possible. No level of inter prisoner violence or assaults on staff is acceptable.

Every effort is made by prison staff and management to limit the scope of acts of violence. However, no regime can completely eliminate the possibility of violent incidents happening in a prison setting where a large number of dangerous and violent offenders are being held. As the Deputy can see from the figures there were 758 incidents of violence recorded in prisons during 2013 and this includes very minor incidents. This amounts to an average of 2.1 incidents per day among a population of approximately 4,000. The Irish Prison Service has successfully introduced a number of measures across the prison estate such as, hand-held metal detectors, netting over prison yards, boss chairs and security screening machines to detect and prevent weapons from entering the prison to limit the scope of acts of violence.

In addition, new prisoner programmes have been introduced such as the Incentivised Regimes policy which provides for a differentiation of privileges between prisoners according to their level of engagement with services and quality of behaviour. The objective is to provide tangible incentives to prisoners to participate in structured activities and to reinforce good behaviour, leading to a safer and more secure environment. As a result, I am pleased to advise the Deputy that the figures for 2013 represent an 8% decrease on the 2012 total of 822 and a 40% decrease on the 2011 total of 1274.

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