James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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159. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of fines and imprisonments on foot of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 and regulations made under same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16426/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda powers in response to the Covid -19 pandemic were provided for under section 31A of the Health Act 1947, as inserted by the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020 and brought temporarily into effect through subsequent regulations – the Health Act, 1947 (Section 31A – Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) Regulations 2020. The regulations were signed by the then Minister for Health, following consultation with my predecessor as Minister for Justice and Equality, Mr Charlie Flanagan TD, as well as the then Minister for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform.

On foot of this, the Garda Commissioner and his senior team have implemented a carefully graduated policing response, based on its strong tradition of policing by consent. Garda members engage, explain and encourage members of the public to comply and, only as a last resort, make use of their enforcement powers under these regulations. In order to ensure that the policing of these public health restrictions is carried out in an appropriate, proportionate and human rights compliant manner, the Policing Authority have been requested to review the policing performance of an Garda Síochána and to provide reports to myself as Minister. These reports are published on my Department's website.

With regard to the figures requested by the Deputy, I am informed by the Garda Commissioner that from 8th April, which was when the regulations came into effect, until 27th June 2020 inclusive, Gardaí have invoked the regulations 320 times out of more than a million interactions with the public. These include both arrests and incidents without arrest where name and address details were taken for consultation with the DPP on the decision to issue charges. Arrest remains a last resort. Of the 320 incidents, two were as a result of an instruction from a relevant medical professional as per the Act.

As per Garda policy in relation to the regulations, in all cases where arrests were made under the regulations, members of An Garda Síochána must consult with the Director of Public Prosecutions on the decision to charge.

Up to 27th June, in 110 of these incidents a charge or summons has issued. Most incidents involve a single individual but some have resulted in charges against multiple people. Up to the same date, in 29 of the 320 incidents the DPP directed no charge. The remainder continued to be under criminal investigation.

In addition, pre-existing enforcement powers were used in 2,177 incidents where other offences were disclosed in the course of Covid-19 operations. These range from incidents such as drink driving or disqualified drivers detected at checkpoints, to drugs and weapons seizures, to public order offences.

As the Deputy will be aware, An Garda Síochána has also conducted thousands of checks on licensed premises throughout the country under Operation Navigation to support public health guidelines since the operation began at 7pm on Friday July 3rd.

In the period from July 3rd to July 12th inclusive, the vast majority of licensed premises operating have been found to be in compliance with regulations and licensing laws, but in 37 individual cases Gardaí have found potential breaches of the health regulations or licensing laws even after providing the premises with the opportunity to rectify the situation. Files will now be prepared for the DPP in each of these cases. In all these cases, Gardaí found customers consuming alcohol, but no evidence of food also being consumed and no evidence of receipts to show that food had been sold.

Officials from my Department are in contact with the Courts Service and the Irish Prison Service to ascertain whether it is possible to collate accurate statistics with regard to the number of fines and imprisonments on foot of these measures. Should statistics be available, I will write to the Deputy with same.