More than a quarter of files sent by the Garda Siochana to the Director of Public Prosecutions last year did not contain evidence sufficient to support a prosecution, according to the first annual report of the DPP.
Prosecution was recommended by the DPP on two-thirds of the files forwarded to his office by the Garda via the State Solicitor's Office for a decision. Prosecution on indictment in the Circuit, Central or Special Criminal Courts was advised on 30 per cent of the files examined, while prosecution in the District Court was recommended in a further 37 per cent of cases. Four per cent of files submitted to the office in 1998 were still under consideration at the time the report went to press, while another 3 per cent related to miscellaneous matters such as requests for legal advice from the Garda or State solicitors.
Directions were issued on 71 per cent of files within four weeks but further investigation or information was required by the DPP in 20 per cent of cases before a decision could be made. Five per cent of files took more than four weeks for the office to consider.
Of the cases where prosecution in the Circuit, Central or Special Criminal Courts was recommended by the DPP in 1997, only 2 per cent resulted in acquittal of the defendant. In all, 54 per cent of cases prosecuted in those courts resulted in convictions, while another 43 per cent of cases were awaiting hearings at the time the report was compiled. One per cent were classified as "other disposals" i.e. cases which were struck out or discontinued, sometimes due to the unavailability of a State witness. No figures for such cases are available yet for 1998 because the majority of the cases have yet to be dealt with.
Half of all cases referred to the DPP related to incidents in Dublin. Another 11 per cent came from the surrounding counties of Louth, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. One in 10 cases referred to the DPP came from Cork.
Almost £7.4 million was spent by the DPP's office in 1998, an increase of almost 78 per cent on 1997. Most of this increase was accounted for by the cost of fees to counsel which more than doubled from £2.639 million in 1997 to £5.5 million last year.
A total of 7,068 files were referred to the office of the DPP last year, an increase of 2 per cent on the number of files which were referred to his office the year before. They were handled by 14 professional officers - 10 solicitors and four barristers - with the support of 19 administrative officers.
