Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Is the Deputy may be aware, the Judicial Council Act 2019 provided for the establishment of the Sentencing Guidelines and Information Committee of the Judicial Council. Its functions include the collation of information on sentences imposed by the courts and the dissemination of that information to judges and others. The Committee has commissioned and published expert research on the methodological considerations in the collection and analysis of sentencing data, as well as a guideline document setting out the procedure the Committee intends to apply in developing sentencing guidelines. The data published on foot of the Sentencing Guidelines and Information Committee will be used to inform policy and legislation in relation to criminal offences, including sexual offences.

More generally, and as part of the Courts Service Modernisation Programme, the Courts Service have published the Courts Service Data Strategy 2021 – 2024, which sets out a clear range of actions that will bring a coherent focus to efforts to improve the organisation’s capacity to manage and appropriately use the data it processes. Furthermore, on foot of the publication of the Final Report of the Judicial Planning Working Group the Courts Service has been working to produce a suite of metrics to demonstrate the impact of the first tranche of judicial appointments. This work is well advanced, with ongoing engagement with officials in my Department.