2441. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he accepts that the Government's assertion that there is 'no evidence to link increased migration with an increase in crime' is contradicted by data and statistics from across the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59084/26]

2444. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he accepts that the Governments assertion that there is 'no evidence to link increased migration with an increase in crime' is contradicted by data and statistics from across the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59190/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 2441 and 2444 together.

In Ireland, crime statistics are not published in a manner that would allow to draw reliable conclusions about any causal relationship between immigration and crime. The Central Statistics Office is the national statistics agency, and is fully independent in its role of publishing statistics. Work is underway across the criminal justice sector to improve the collection and sharing of data through the introduction of a unique identifier.

Following a consultation process, a policy approach was finalised that the pre-existing Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) should be used for this purpose. This will enable the CSO to gather anonymised, disaggregated information on those interacting with the justice system, including information on, but not limited to, ethnicity.

This would provide an invaluable source of data, without having to ask individuals to identify protected characteristics; and will provide a discreet, but robust way, to understand ethnicity within the criminal justice system. Joined up data, in conjunction with careful anonymisation and disaggregation, will be necessary before any statistics related to ethnicity could be published.