2285. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of peace commissioners registered on the most recent roll maintained by his Department. [57072/26]

In line with the provisions of section 88 of the Courts of Justice Act 1924, Peace Commissioners are appointed, and may be removed from that appointment, by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.

A list of individuals appointed to the office of Peace Commissioners is maintained by my Department. That list is referred to as the Roll (or Register) of Peace Commissioners. I can inform the Deputy that the total number of Peace Commissioners recorded throughout the country is currently just over 4000.

While my Department maintains the Roll of Peace Commissioners and every effort is made to keep it accurate, the data currently on the Roll may include Peace Commissioners who are no longer active or, indeed, some whom have died. My Department relies on Peace Commissioners themselves, or others familiar with their circumstances (such as family members), to let us know of any changes in circumstances of individual Peace Commissioners since their appointment.

My Department is currently working on the Roll of Peace Commissioners, with a view to making it as accurate as possible, and good progress has been made to date in this regard.

Consideration is being given to making the Roll of Peace Commissioners available online which would be of assistance to members of the public and is in line with the move to increase digital delivery of certain services. Once the work to update the data on the Roll has been completed, the question of publishing the Roll in an accessible, online format will be considered in the context of any legal, technical or other constraints.