Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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282. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will report on Garda Operation Rickshaw; the number of persons arrested and charged to date; the number of successful convictions obtained to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23334/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Issues relating to the regulation of rickshaws under road traffic legislation are for my colleague the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Mr. Shane Ross, T.D. to consider. 

As I have previously indicated, the involvement of rickshaw drivers in the supply of illegal drugs is a matter of considerable concern.  This is particularly so having regard to the potential risks to the safety and security of people who travel in rickshaws as passengers, but also members of the public generally.  Drug dealing, wherever it occurs and whatever form it takes, brings risks to everybody, be they buyers, sellers or members of An Garda Síochána.

Operational strategies and initiatives undertaken by An Garda Síochána are supported and supplemented when necessary by Regional and National Units such as the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and the Criminal Investigation Bureau, as well as the Criminal Assets Bureau. Multi-disciplinary approaches are utilised to ensure that those involved in illicit drugs activity are effectively targeted, as was recently seen in the Prime Time report of 'Wheeling and Dealing - Rickshaw Riders'. 

An Garda Síochána's initiative in relation to drug dealing by rickshaw drivers took place between 1 May 2016 and 2 December 2017. During this period, Garda personnel attached to the Pearse Street Garda District identified eighty-seven (87) rickshaw drivers operating in the Dublin Metropolitan Region South Central who were suspected of committing offences contrary to Sections 3 and 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977 to 2016. The arrested individuals are currently being pursued through the courts.

In addition, the Pearse Street Garda District, supported by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, undertook a local crime prevention initiative on eighteen occasions, involving sixteen different rickshaw operators, to test purchase controlled drugs during the period 20 December 2016 and 17 March 2017.

It seems clear that An Garda Síochána is very much alive to the issue and that the illegal activity involved is closely monitored with successful on-going policing operations in the areas concerned.  This was clearly evidenced in the Prime Time Report which showed undercover officers involved in a number of arrests on one given night.