Vol. 546 No. 5
247 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons reported missing in the past 12 months; the number who were subsequently found; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32445/01]
I have been informed by the Garda authorities that statistics on missing persons are compiled on an annual basis, and as a consequence, statistics for the past 12 months are not readily available and could not be compiled without a disproportionate expenditure of Garda time and resources.
In the year 2000, the most recent year for which statistics are available, of the persons reported as missing to the gardaí, 1,806 were accepted by them as genuinely missing. Of these, 22 persons were unaccounted for at the end of last year. I should stress that these statistics are provisional and are subject to change.
