Law « Thurles Information

Central Statistics Office – 2019 Prison Re-Offending Stats Welcomed.

Minister for Justice Mrs Helen McEntee, TD, has welcomed the latest figures released from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Prison re-offending in 2019.

Drop in re-offending rates within 1 year of release from prison from 48% in 2018 to 45% in 2019
3 year reoffending rate remains static
Prisoners serving short custodial sentences (3-6 months) most likely to reoffend within a year
Younger adults released from custodial sentences continue to have a much stronger tendency to re-offen Females remain more likely to re-offend than males within three years.

Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee, TD has welcomed the latest publication today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) of a statistical release on Prison Re-Offending Statistics from 2019. The release provides information on the level of recorded re-offending by individuals released from custodial or Fine Sentence sanctions within the Irish Prison Service.

The report provides information on prisoner re-offending estimates which are calculated using data provided by the Irish Prisons Service and An Garda Síochána’s PULSE reporting system.

In addition to updates of three-year and one-year re-offending rates and tables on individuals released from custody 2011-2016, this new publication also presents statistics displaying the geographical breakdown of prison re-offending in Ireland.

The report indicates that individuals released in 2019 from custodial sentences lasting between three and six months (58%) had the highest likelihood of re-offending within a year.

Speaking about the results of the report, Minister McEntee said

“I welcome the fact that the prison reoffending rates appear to have fallen from 48% in 2018 to 45% in 2019.

What is concerning is that the rate of those reoffending within a year of release remain highest for those sentenced to between 3 and 6 months imprisonment. Officials in my Department are currently finalising a review of policy options for prison and penal reform”.

The CSO publication indicates that men made up the majority of prison releases in 2016 at 92%. The statistics show that women were more likely to re-offend with 70% of women reoffending within 3 years of release compared to 62% of men.

Referring to this particular statistic, Minister McEntee indicated that
“We know that most women who offend pose a low risk to society but present with a high level of need.

The joint IPS/Probation Service Strategy “An Effective Response to Women Who Offend” provided the starting point for focused interventions for female offenders.

The new penal policy review recognises the particular needs of women who offend and will look at how best to address them”.

The report from the CSO outlines that those released from custodial sentences in 2019 that related to Burglary or Public Order offences are most likely to re-offend within a year of release. The Department of Justice is working with An Garda Síochána to tackle this specific issue.

Operation Thor, introduced in 2015 by the Gardaí to deter criminal activity related to burglary, has proved highly successful in tackling property related crime since its inception in November 2015.

In 2015, there were in excess of 18,800 residential burglaries reported. By contrast, to the end of 2021 there were just over 6,000 residential burglaries reported, a reduction of over 66% or approximately 13,000 less residential burglaries.

Drugs Destined for Addresses In Tipperary Seized by Revenue Officers.

Revenue officers have seized parcels containing drugs with an estimated street value of €450,000, in the area Dublin and Athlone.

The parcels were destined for addresses in counties Tipperary, Dublin, Galway, Cork, Meath, Waterford, Kildare, Clare, Louth, Leitrim and Cavan, but were halted as part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the importation of illegal drugs.

In the Dublin area, routine operations at two premises saw illegal drugs seized, with an estimated value of over €370,000.
The drugs seized included small quantities of butane honey oil, cannabis resin, MDMA, ecstasy tablets, cocaine, synthetic cannabinoids and 18kgs of herbal cannabis.

In Athlone on Monday last, using the assistance of detector dogs ‘Bailey’ and ‘Sam’, Revenue officers discovered illegal drugs, while examining parcels, leading to the seizure of almost 4kgs of herbal cannabis with an estimated street value of €80,000.

Latter were concealed in various parcels labelled as ‘board games’, ‘car organisers’, ‘tuxedos’, ‘tea’, ‘jeans’ and ‘pet blanket’.

The parcels are understood to have initially originated in North America, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Investigations into both Dublin and Athlone seizures remain ongoing.

Funding Allocations For Youth Diversion Projects Announced.

Minister of State Mr James Browne announces funding allocations for Youth Diversion Projects for 2022.

Just under €6.7m in funding being allocated to over 50 projects around the country
Funding will go towards assisting projects with boundary extensions, appointing family support workers, working with harder-to-engage children and early intervention
Will contribute towards aim of providing YDP services in every county in Ireland

Minister of State with responsibility for Youth Justice, Mr James Browne T.D., is delighted to announce just under €6.7m in funding allocations for over 50 Youth Diversion Projects (YDPs) nationwide.

YDPs engage with young people through a range of supports, including education, training and employment support, social enterprise initiatives, as well as personal development and supports such as mentoring, and personal development activities.

Welcoming the announcement, Minister Browne said:

“Having visited many Youth Diversion Projects across the country during my time as Minister of State, I have seen first-hand the positive impact they have on both the young people who they welcome through their doors and the wider communities in which they are based.

I am delighted to see such a significant allocation be dispersed to projects right across the country. This money will help some projects extend their work into neighbouring communities, it will help some projects to devote specific resources to harder-to-engage children and it will help some projects to appoint new or additional family support workers.

This announcement follows on from the publication of the Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027 last year, which provides a developmental framework to address key ongoing challenges, as well as new and emerging issues, in the youth justice area.”

Minister Browne continued,

“One of the objectives of the Youth Justice Strategy is to have full YDP coverage in all parts of the country. This funding goes a long way to making that possible as it will allow for current YDPs to expand their boundaries and a further €780,000 is also being set aside for the establishment of new YDPs.

It is my and the Department’s stated ambition to ensure that the provision of YDP services is available to every child in the state who would benefit from it within the next two years.”

Draft Bill Published To Protect National Security & Tackle Serious Crime.

New mechanisms to retain data to protect national security and tackle serious crime under draft Bill published by Minister McEntee.

Mechanism for general retention of data for purposes of national security
Preservation and Access to specified data for both security and law enforcement
Minister McEntee clear that Gardaí must not have their hands tied behind their backs

The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee TD, has today published the General Scheme for the Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Bill 2022.

The General Scheme provides that general and indiscriminate retention of communications traffic and location data can only be permitted on national security grounds, where approved by a designated judge.

In addition, the General Scheme provides for a system of preservation and production orders to facilitate preservation of and access to specified communications data held by service providers for both national security and for the investigation of serious crime, where permitted by an authorising judge.

A preservation order will act as a “quick freeze” requiring service providers to retain any specified data they hold at a particular point in time for a period.

A production order will allow access to specified data held by a service provider for commercial or other reasons, where such access is necessary for national security or law enforcement purposes. The effect of a production order will be that a service provider must immediately take steps to produce and hand over to the relevant state agency the data described in the order made by an authorised judge.

Both traffic and location data retained for national security purposes and subscriber data, retained for national security or law enforcement purposes, will be retained for 12 months.

The General Scheme is consistent with European Court of Justice rulings in this area.

The Minister stated: “As I stated last month when I received Cabinet permission to draft this legislation, it is vital that we do not have a situation where An Garda Síochána have their hands tied behind their backs and Gardaí must be fully equipped with strong laws and modern technology.

There should always be safeguards and protections when it comes to accessing data, but we must not allow the balance to shift too far away from keeping people safe and fighting crime and the Government is taking urgent action to ensure that the appropriate legislation is in place.

It is my intention, with the assistance of the Attorney General and his officials, to return to Government next week seeking approval to publish the Bill. This urgency is unavoidable given the need for legal certainty for communications service providers and state agencies on what obligations apply to the retention of communications data, which is vital for law enforcement and national security.

In addition to this urgent Bill, I intend to bring forward a more comprehensive proposal later in the year to address wider reforms and a more consolidated legal framework in this area”.

Two Unidentified Bodies Located In South Tipperary.

A garda investigation is under way, this afternoon, following the discovery of two bodies, that of an elderly man and an elderly woman, at a private residence in a house in south Co. Tipperary.
As of yet, there is no established cause of death, however it is also understood there is no indication of any visible foul play, as of this time.

Following locals having raised certain concerns, the bodies were located by investigating Gardaí in a house 3.5km from the village of Cloneen, situated between Fethard and Mullinahone, close to the Tipperary-Kilkenny border, shortly before 4:00pm this evening.

It is understood that the bodies may have lain undiscovered at that location for some time, possibly several weeks.

A formal identification has yet to be carried out on the remains, however Gardaí believe they are those of a couple aged in their 70s.

Members of the Garda Technical Bureau are due to perform a forensic examination of the scene, while the office of the State pathologist has also been informed. Tomorrow, the bodies are expected to be removed to University Hospital Waterford (UHW) for a full post mortem examination

Gardaí at Clonmel are leading the investigation.