Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Renua Ireland)
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184. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 311 of 24 November 2015, when the up-to-date report from An Garda Síochána will be complete and when she will contact this Deputy with the statistical data sought; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1722/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I have recently received the report requested from the Garda authorities and am informed that, as of 25 November, 2015, there were a total of 29,233 bench warrants awaiting execution. The House will appreciate that at any given time there will inevitably be a significant number of warrants outstanding as indicated by the fact that the House was informed in May 2010 that at the time 37,394 bench warrants were recorded as unexecuted. The attached table shows the number of bench warrants outstanding in each Garda Division on 25 November, 2015. I am further informed that is not possible to identify the number of unexecuted warrants as they relate to the years 2011 to 2014.

As the Deputy will appreciate, difficulties in relation to the execution of warrants are a long standing issue for many police forces around the world, notably relating to persons actively seeking to evade detection and the limited identification information which might be available to support enforcement. These difficulties are compounded where the warrant has been outstanding for some years, as is often the case. An Garda Síochána gives priority to the execution of warrants relating to serious crimes. A welcome analysis of this issue was provided by the Garda Síochána Inspectorate in their report on Crime Investigation of November 2014. The Inspectorate Report acknowledges the difficulties often faced by Gardaí in pursuing the execution of warrants but it also points to deficiencies in the current systems, some of which are tied to the available technology for recording and monitoring information on warrants. In this regard the Government is providing a very important investment in new Garda technology under the Capital Plan 2016 – 2021, amounting to €205m over the life of the Plan, with a view to modernising Garda information systems to support policing services.

In addition, as part of the overall strategic transformation programme underway in An Garda Síochána, a Warrants Review Group has been working on means of better managing and enforcing warrants taking on board the Inspectorate’s analysis. A number of improvements have been put in place, including greater use of clerical support staff which helps to free up Gardaí to concentrate on the execution as opposed to the administration of warrants. I am further advised that warrants enforcement is a recurring agenda item at Garda Senior Management Meetings, as well as regional performance and accountability meetings, to ensure that the situation is continually monitored.

Bench warrants awaiting execution in each Garda Division on 25 November 2015