Vol. 454 No. 2
1 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons serving sentences in respect of crimes committed while on bail who were granted temporary release in the first three months of 1995 in view of her recent statement in Dáil Éireann that in assessing any case for temporary release due regard would be had to the fact than an offence was committed while on bail. [10427/95]
29 Mr. L. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Justice the number of prisoners who are now serving sentences in respect of crimes committed while on bail. [10388/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 29 together.
Statistics are not currently maintained in such a manner as to permit compilation of the number of offenders in custody whose crimes were committed while on bail or the number of such offenders who were subsequently granted temporary release. They could only be compiled through an examination of the individual records of each offender and this would involve the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time. In all cases where temporary release is being considered, regard is had to a number of factors including the offenders's previous record, the nature and circumstances of the offence, the length of sentence, the length of time served, behaviour while in custody and the safety of the public. The commission of a crime while on bail is one of the factors taken into account in assessing suitability for temporary release.
Is the Minister now satisfied that the equipment and resources available to the Garda Síochána are inadequate to deal with parliamentary questions?
I indicated previously I am not satisfied with the way in which statistics have been kept for a number of years, including all the years during which the Deputy's party was in Government. There is now a full time research person attached to the Garda college in Templemore working on preparing and gathering of statistics. A proposal being implemented in my Department is the introduction of information technology to all Garda stations on a three year basis. This will allow for easier access to the type of information that is more and more sought in the Dáil. The Deputy is right that it is not satisfactory that figures like this cannot be drawn out, but something is now being done to improve the situation.
It will come as a major surprise to the general public that I cannot even find out from the Minister how many people who were guilty of, for example, sexual offences were given temporary release this year. As the number of crimes committed by people on bail has risen from 2,495 in 1990 to 4,416 in 1994, will the Minister accept that the time has come to introduce legislation to end the process of temporary release for prisoners who have committed crimes while on bail?
I assure the Deputy that people who are in prison for sexual offences are, broadly speaking, not considered for early or temporary release except on the rarest of occasions — I do not have the figures here for that. I stress that temporary release includes everything from a two-hour period to attend a funeral, visit a grave or attend a doctor. The number of people allowed out on temporary release for reasons such as those would be very large. Last year's figures indicate that about 2,700 prisoners a year are given full temporary release and, in addition, 2,800 are granted varying lengths of renewable temporary release. Those two categories would not be added together because the figures coincide. Since the beginning of 1995 there have been approximately 50 to 60 releases a week — these are temporary releases for a range of activities.
In regard to whether someone who is in prison for committing a crime while on bail should be released, that issue, along with the question of the safety of the public, behaviour while in custody, the length of time served etc. is taken into account when consideration is given to an application for temporary release. I hope before the end of my term in Government we will have a better way of obtaining the statistics and figures Deputies seek. I suffered the same frustration while I was on the Opposition side of the House, but with the introduction of information technology and the availability of a research person, I hope these figures will be more readily available; there are figures available but they are always one or two years out of date.
Let me rephrase my question to the Minister with a view to getting a direct answer. Does the Minister intend to introduce legislation to prevent full temporary release for a person serving a sentence of imprisonment in respect of an offence committed while on bail?
I have no proposals at the moment to introduce such legislation, but I will bear the Deputy's comments in mind when reviewing legislation.
