asked the Minister for Justice how many people charged with criminal offences have been admitted to bail in each of the three years ended 30th September, 1967, 1968, and 1969.
12.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Offences on Bail.
11.
asked the Minister for Justice in how many of the cases mentioned in his reply of 19th February 1970, referring to persons alleged to have committed crimes while out on bail during each of the three years ended September 1967, 1968 and 1969, were prosecutions brought; and in how many of these cases were convictions obtained in respect of such offences up to the 30th September 1967, 1968 and 1969.
I propose, with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 11 and 12 together.
As I said in reply to the Deputy's question on the same subject on 19th February, the figures which I then gave are the only ones available. They are the result of a special inquiry. These figures should be sufficient to enable the Deputy to evaluate the problems involved. The assembly of statistics to provide answers to the several questions here put would take up an enormous amount of police time which, in my view, is better spent on the prevention and detection of crime, which is the primary police function.
13.
asked the Minister for Justice what conclusive evidence is available to him in respect of offences by persons on bail other than convictions in court.
The very full reply which I gave to the Deputy on 19th February as to the numbers of persons on bail who committed further crimes stated specifically that the Garda were satisfied as to the identity of the culprits. They rely on confessions, or admissions by associate criminals, or on evidence such as fingerprints, or on actual apprehensions at the scene of the crime. For technical legal reasons, it is not infrequent for offenders not to be charged.
Fresh offences committed by persons while on bail may not come before the court for a considerable time but nonetheless the Garda are entitled to say, without awaiting the actual conviction, that they are satisfied as to the identity of the offenders. I have every confidence in the integrity of the Garda in this respect.