211. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of organised crime groups disrupted, or prosecutions secured as a result of Joint Agency Task Force JATF cooperation since 2020 [38351/26]

Jim O'Callaghan, Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: The cross border Joint Agency Task Force (JATF), established under the 2015 Fresh Start Agreement, is a cross border partnership that works in a practical way on the ground to tackle organised and cross jurisdictional crime. It promotes real-time collaboration between An Garda Síochána and the PSNI in efforts to frustrate, disrupt and dismantle the activity of organised crime groups. It is led by senior officers from An Garda Síochána, Revenue, the PSNI, and HM Revenue and Customs with the Criminal Assets Bureau and the National Crime Agency involved as needed in operational activity.

Organised crime groups disrupted under the JATF framework were identified across a range of priority crime areas, including rural crime, drug-related criminality, financial crime, excise fraud, organised immigration crime, and human trafficking-related offences.

I am informed by the Garda Authorities that based on a comprehensive review of operational reporting for the period 2020 to 2026 inclusive, it is estimated that activity undertaken within the JATF framework contributed to the disruption of approximately 59 organised crime groups and supported approximately 443 related prosecutions across both jurisdictions.

The approximate prosecution figures referenced relate to the number of individuals prosecuted and do not include the number of individual charges and/or charge sheets associated with those prosecutions.

Garda authorities advise that the disruption of a single organised crime group often involves multiple offenders, extended investigations, and prosecutions arising over a prolonged period. In addition, while many prosecutions relate to organised crime group activity, some arose from opportunistic or associated criminal activity identified through JATF operations, particularly within the rural crime area.