Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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585. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons extradited back to Ireland in each of the years 2001 to 2015; the number subsequently convicted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39709/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware the legal basis for extradition in this State up to 2004 was provided for solely by way of the Extradition Act, 1965. Since 2004, surrenders of persons between the Member States of the European Union have operated on the basis of the European Arrest Warrant Act, 2003 which came into effect on 1 January 2004. Extraditions from non-EU States have remained under the provisions of the Act of 1965.

The numbers of persons surrendered or extradited to Ireland for the years requested by the Deputy are included in the table and, by way of further clarification, there were no extraditions from EU Member States during the years 2001 to 2003 inclusive.

As Minister I have no role in the conviction of any person including those surrendered or extradited to this State and no such records are held by my Department.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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586. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons who are currently in custody waiting to be extradited from Ireland but whose extradition has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39710/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware decisions relating to detention in prison and bail fall within the remit of the Courts and this includes detentions ordered in proceedings relevant to European Arrest Warrant requests. As Minister for Justice, I have no function in this area.

As of 25 November 2020, the latest date for which information is available, there are no persons in custody whose surrender under the European Arrest Warrant has been postponed for Covid-19 related matters.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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587. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons who are currently in custody waiting to be extradited back to Ireland but whose extradition has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39711/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will appreciate that I have no role in, or influence over, the processing of extradition or European Arrest Warrant (EAW) requests in other jurisdictions and that therefore I cannot give a definitive answer to the question he has raised.

What I can say is that, based on information available to the Irish Central Authority for extradition, there are four known cases involving the surrender of individuals to this jurisdiction where factors related to Covid 19 have contributed to delays. Of these four individuals, one is known to be in custody and one is on bail. It has not been possible to establish the position with the other cases by the reply date of this question. Planning is continuing to bring about these extraditions as soon as possible.

In the wider context, surrenders to Ireland are still ongoing. Since June of this year, a total of 22 individuals have been extradited to Ireland from a variety of states.