Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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1088. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of bench warrants currently outstanding in Kildare; the number that were outstanding for more than six and 12 months; and the number that were outstanding for over 2, 4 and 5+ years. [63726/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that the Garda Commissioner is, by law, responsible for the management and administration of Garda business, including the allocation of Garda resources in respect of identified operational demands. As Minister, I have no direct 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 executes warrants as expeditiously as possible, giving priority to the execution of warrants relating to serious crimes.

The Deputy will also appreciate that the figure for outstanding bench warrants recorded by PULSE at any given time reflects an accumulation of old bench warrants which has arisen over the years and that therefore the total figure for outstanding bench warrants as shown on PULSE may not be a reliable indicator of the number of 'live' warrants which are actually enforceable.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that the table below shows the number of bench warrants that were outstanding on the 10 January 2023 in Kildare Division.

The figures provided were collated based on data from PULSE as of 01:30 on 10 January 2023. They are operational and liable to change.