Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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275. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of prosecutions that have been brought under Coco's Law since it was enacted in 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49114/23]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 was commenced on the 10th February 2021. Along with other provisions, it created two new offences of sending, or threatening to send, intimate images without the consent of the person, regardless of the motivation for doing so.

It also broadened the existing offence of harassment and provided for a new offence of sending, distributing or publishing a threatening or grossly offensive message by any means of communication with intent to cause harm to the victim, which means our legislation now covers harmful once-off communications as well as harassment.

As the Deputy will be aware, prosecutions are a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The DPP is wholly independent in her functions under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1974 (as amended) and, as Minister, I have no role in the operations, governance or oversight of the Office of the Director, which is funded through the Vote of the Department of the Taoiseach. As a result, I am unable to provide any statistical information related to the work of the DPP.

However, I am advised by the Garda authorities that there have been 329 prosecutions (charges/summons) in relation to 241 incidents under the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020.

Gardaí anticipate that the numbers of prosecutions will continue to rise as further reports are received and the consequent criminal investigations progress.

My Department has also run two linked national awareness campaigns since the new legislation was enacted - one focused on the illegality of sharing intimate images without consent and the other, which was launched in May of this year, focused on the illegality of threatening to share intimate images.

It may also interest the Deputy to know that An Garda Síochána continues to partner with Hotline.ie which has created an online reporting facility that enables victims of intimate image abuse (IIA) to report this type of criminal activity to Gardaí, via the hotline website, while simultaneously making an IIA content removal request.

Where victims request, Gardaí will conduct a thorough criminal investigation with a view to prosecuting offenders, while Hotline will engage with the relevant service provider to seek the removal of the harmful content reported.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Criminal Justice (Mutual Recognition of Custodial Sentences) Act 2023 (the “2023 Act”) was signed into law on 1 March 2023 and was commenced on 3 May 2023.

As the Deputy will be aware, the 2023 Act transposed Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA on “the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judgments in criminal matters imposing custodial sentences or measures involving deprivation of liberty for the purpose of their enforcement in the EU”, that is, the enforcement of a custodial sentence in a State other than where it was imposed. The 2023 Act also significantly amends the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Acts 1995 and 1997, and the Transfer of Execution of Sentences Act 2005, which respectively implement the 1983 Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and its Additional Protocol in Ireland.

The Framework Decision, implemented by the 2023 Act, builds on the Convention and supersedes it in respect of EU transfers. The Transfer of Sentenced Persons and Transfer of Execution of Sentences Acts will continue to operate alongside the 2023 Act, as the Convention and its Additional Protocol continue to apply in respect of non-EU transfers, including with the United Kingdom.

Applications for inward and outward transfers are currently being processed under the relevant Acts. The first outward transfer took place in recent weeks and a number of applications for inward and outward transfers are at the latter stages of processing.