Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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729. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of bench warrants outstanding in the Limerick Garda division as of 31 December 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1668/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that the Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for the administration and business of An Garda Síochána, including the allocation of Garda resources, in light of identified operational demands. As Minister, I have no role in these matters.

As the Deputy will appreciate, difficulties in relation to the execution of warrants, including bench warrants, are a long-standing issue for many police services around the world; notably relating to persons actively seeking to evade detection and where limited identification information might be available to support enforcement. I am assured however that An Garda Síochána execute warrants as expeditiously as possible, giving priority to the execution of warrants relating to serious crimes.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that there were 992 bench warrants outstanding in Limerick Division as of 31 December 2020.