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Crime Prevention

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 February 2022

Thursday, 17 February 2022

Questions (261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 271)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

261. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the steps she can still take to further tighten the bail laws to ensure that no person on bail can commit another offence while on bail; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9007/22]

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Bernard Durkan

Question:

262. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the steps she plans to take to tighten the bail laws and to address recidivism; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9008/22]

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Bernard Durkan

Question:

263. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the extent to which repeat offenders have been involved in further crime including violent crime in the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9009/22]

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Bernard Durkan

Question:

264. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the steps being taken to prevent the committal of further crime by persons while on bail; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9010/22]

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Bernard Durkan

Question:

265. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the extent to which further crime has been committed by persons while on bail in the course of the past five years to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9011/22]

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Bernard Durkan

Question:

271. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the number of members of organised criminal and drug gangs currently on bail; the length of time they have been on bail; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9019/22]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 261 to 265, inclusive, and 271 together.

The Deputy will be aware that the decision to grant bail in a particular case is a matter for the presiding Judge, who is independent in the exercise of his or her judicial functions. There is also a constitutional presumption in favour of the grant of bail as, under Irish Law, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

As the Deputy knows, a referendum took place in 1996 on a proposed amendment to the Constitution to allow the courts to refuse bail where there are grounds for believing that the accused will commit serious offences while on bail. The referendum was passed by the People and section 2 of the Bail Act 1997 permits the courts to refuse bail to a person charged with a serious offence where refusal of bail is considered by the Court necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence by that person. Subsequent to this, the law on bail has been further strengthened on three occasions, specifically in the Criminal Justice Act 2007, the Criminal Justice Act 2015 and the Criminal Justice Act 2017.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that the amended bail laws have proven to be effective and I can inform the Deputy there are no immediate plans to introduce further bail legislation.

An Garda Síochána has made important progress in suppressing the threat of serious and organised crime and there has been significant successes achieved in this area through intelligence-led operations. I can assure the Deputy that there will be no let-up in the pressure being brought to bear on those involved in organised crime.

The Government has supported An Garda Síochána in addressing the threat from organised crime gangs through the introduction of legislative measures such as:

- The Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act 2016 which provides additional Garda powers for the immediate seizure of assets suspected of being the proceeds of crime to prevent them being disposed of.

- The Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014 providing for the establishment and operation of the DNA database providing Gardaí with links between people and unsolved crimes.

- The Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009, introduced to protect the justice system from being subverted by criminal groups, including potential intimidation of juries.

- By continuing to grow the strength of the Garda organisation, with a budget of over €2 billion in 2022, providing for the recruitment of up to 800 Gardaí and 400 Garda staff this year.

While it is not possible to provide the statistics sought by the Deputy in respect of the granting of bail to members of organised crime gangs (as this information is not available to the Courts Service) the Deputy may be aware, that the Central Statistics Office regularly publishes both prison and probation re-offending statistics on their website www.cso.ie .

According to the latest release of the Prison Re-offending Statistics 2011 – 2018, published in June 2021, out of the 1,323 persons who re-offended within a year of release in 2018, over a half (50.6%) re-offended in just two offence groups - theft (331) or public order related offences (339).

The latest Probation Re-offending Statistics 2017, published on 19 November 2021, indicate that of the 1,368 individuals that re-offended within a year of receiving their probation orders in 2017, individuals were most likely to re-offend with an offence linked to Road and Traffic offences (23%), public order and other social code offences (22%), theft and related offences (17%), controlled drug offences (13%) and Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime (9%).

Further detailed statistical information can found at the CSO website statistics section at People and Society - Crime and Justice.

Non-custodial penalties, particularly supervised community sanctions, play a significant and important role in addressing criminality, reducing reoffending and providing a degree of protection to the public and this is supported by CSO figures on recidivism.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Programme for Government 2020 contains a broad range of policies and proposals that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more just and safe society with a specific commitment to review policy options for prison and penal reform.

A High Level Working Group is taking forward the Government’s commitment to review policy options for prison and penal reform and I expect to publish the report from the group shortly.

This work will build on a number of initiatives that have been introduced over the past decade to reduce reoffending, including Community Return and Community Support Schemes and the Joint Agency Response to Crime (JARC).

In terms of future legislation, the Deputy may wish to note that it is my intention in the forthcoming Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill to raise the maximum penalty for the offence of ‘conspiracy to murder’ from a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment to potential life imprisonment. This Bill is currently with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel for drafting and I hope to be in a position to publish it in quarter 2 of this year.

Question No. 262 answered with Question No. 261.
Question No. 263 answered with Question No. 261.
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