Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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717. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of prosecutions taken and the number of convictions secured, for the offence of taking photographs inside a polling station since the commencement of the Electoral Act 1992. [61094/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Prosecutions are a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions, who is fully independent in her functions. As Minister, I have no role in the operations, functions, governance or oversight of the Office of the DPP and as a result I am unable to provide any information or statistics relating to the Director's work.

The management of the courts, operational matters and logistical functions are the responsibility of the judiciary and Courts Service, which are independent in exercising their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998 and the Constitution.

I have sought the requested information from the Courts Service and I am advised that there is no specific offence code for the offence of photography in polling stations, nor any offence codes under the Electoral Act. As a result, it is not possible to collate data on the number of prosecutions and convictions in this instance.

In respect of questions on convictions the Deputy may wish to note that the Courts Service has a dedicated email address for the provision of information to members of the Houses of the Oireachtas: oireachtasenquiries@courts.ie