115,000 outstanding warrants a ‘threat to justice system’

Fianna Fáil spokesman on Justice Niall Collins has called for the establishment of a special Garda taskforce after it emerged there were more than 115,000 outstanding warrants – orders made by the courts – which had not been served at the end of June.

Mr Collins blamed a “failure to upgrade Garda technology and the significant cut backs to Garda resources” for the situation in which he claims the gardaí’s ability to execute warrants has been seriously undermined.

He said the failure to execute more than 115,000 warrants represented “a serious threat to our criminal justice system . . . making orders of our courts and the Gardaí totally ineffective”.

He also claimed there was “great concern” among the judiciary that if warrants are continuously left without execution it would “make a mockery of the whole criminal justice system”.

“I believe the Minister for Justice must now consult with the Garda Commissioner and establish a special Garda Taskforce to deal with the outstanding warrants. If people see that our justice system cannot implement the orders it makes it fundamentally undermines their confidence in that system. This is nothing less than a threat to the criminal justice system overall”, he said.