Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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653. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of incidents of accommodation fraud reported to An Garda Síochána in each of the years 2018 to 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [23249/22]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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655. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the monetary amount stolen from victims as a result of accommodation fraud in each of the years 2018 to 2021 and to date in 2022. [23251/22]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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656. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of prosecutions made as a result of accommodation fraud in each of the years 2018 to 2021 and to date in 2022. [23252/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 653, 655 and 656 together.

As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including the recording of crimes reported to An Garda Síochána. As Minister for Justice, I have no direct role in these matters.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that a search was carried out on the PULSE system identifying incidents of Accommodation Fraud. The tables below, furnished to me by the Garda authorities, show the number of incidents of Accommodation Fraud and the monetary value stolen for the period requested by the Deputy. As this incident type was introduced in 2019, data is not available or comparable from any prior period.

Incidents of Accommodation Fraud

Monetary Value Seized

It is worth noting that figures are operational and liable to change and are based on a reported date using data obtained from PULSE.

The Deputy will also be aware that the Director of Public Prosecutions is an independent law officer under the provisions of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1974 (as amended). The Office of the DPP is under the Vote of the Department of the Taoiseach and I have no role in the functions of the Director or the Office of the DPP. However, to be of assistance, I made enquiries with the Courts Service, regarding the number of prosecutions made as a result of accommodation fraud. The Courts Service have advised that there is no offence code for “rental fraud” and therefore the information sought by the Deputy cannot be provided.

I would encourage anyone who has been the victim of such crime to contact An Garda Síochána. I can assure the Deputy that any incident of this type of crime will be investigated by An Garda Síochána. Furthermore, Garda management are continuously monitoring crime trends to identify persons who are engaged in such crimes. The Deputy may wish to note that advice is available on the Garda website for those who have fallen victim to accommodation fraud at the following link:

www.garda.ie/en/crime/fraud/i-believe-i-am-the-victim-of-rental-fraud-what-do-i-do-.html

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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654. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide a breakdown of incidents of accommodation fraud that occurred through social media platforms, in person, or through other websites or methods. [23250/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including the recording of crimes reported to An Garda Síochána. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that the below table shows the breakdown of incidents of accommodation fraud that occurred, and the method of communication used between suspect and injured party, for the period 2021.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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657. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of incidents of investment fraud reported to An Garda Síochána in each of the years 2018 to 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [23255/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including Garda operations aimed at preventing and countering criminal activity. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.

However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I sought information from the Garda authorities in relation to incidents of investment fraud. A search of the PULSE database was conducted on the 06 May 2022 for incidents of the type “Investment Fraud” which were reported during the period 01/01/2018 – 05/05/2022.

Based on the numbers returned, the table below shows the count of incidents by year:

Incident data is based upon operational data from the PULSE system as was available on 06/05/2022 and is liable to change.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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658. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of incidents of cryptocurrency fraud reported to An Garda Síochána in each of the years 2018 to 2021 and to date in 2022. [23256/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including Garda operations aimed at preventing and countering criminal activity. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.

However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I sought information from the Garda authorities in relation to incidents of cryptocurrency fraud. I am informed that while cryptocurrency may be a component of an economic crime incident, there is no structured PULSE crime incident type to capture all such incidents. Investment Fraud can often involve cryptocurrency. However, so too can many other economic crime incident types.

I am therefore advised by An Garda Síochána that to provide a breakdown of all offences as requested by the Deputy would require an inordinate expenditure of Garda time and resources, as the scope of the request is so large.