Written answers

Tuesday, 2 May 2017

Department of Justice and Equality

Inquiries into Garda Activities

Photo of Jim O'CallaghanJim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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207. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the inaccuracies that have been uncovered in homicide cases following a review of 41 sample cases; the number of cases that were wrongly classified; if further reviews will be carried out to test for further inaccuracies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20704/17]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am awaiting a full report from the Garda authorities on the matter and I will communicate further with the Deputy when this is to hand.

More generally, the Deputy will recall that the Garda Inspectorate Report on Crime Investigation, published in November 2014, identified concerns about some aspects of the recording and classification of crime incident data. In view of these concerns, I met with the Director of the Central Statistics Office to help chart a course of action to address the Inspectorate’s recommendations in relation to the recording and classification of crime data.

Since then the CSO has provided strong support for measures to improve the quality of our crime figures, including two detailed reviews of the quality of crime data, as recorded on the Garda PULSE system (June 2015 and September 2016). I understand that further reviews are planned by the CSO and this will provide us with an important level of reassurance in relation to official crime statistics.

The CSO has also chaired an Expert Group on Crime Statistics which has considered a number of the Garda Inspectorate’s recommendations on crime statistics, including in relation to the crime counting rules. I am advised that the Expert Group has prepared a report, and I expect this will be published in the coming weeks.

Work to address the full range of the Garda Inspectorate’s recommendations in relation to data quality is ongoing and is supported by very large Government investments totalling €330 million from 2016-2021 in Garda technology and systems, including €250 million under the Capital Plan.

It is essential that we do all we can to ensure and enhance the integrity of crime statistics. The Government remains committed to ensuring that the issues highlighted by the Garda Inspectorate concerning the official crime statistics are addressed progressively through a series of measures by An Garda Síochána, and the CSO as the national statistics agency.

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