Brendan Griffin
Question:92. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Justice her plans to target the problem of repeat criminal offenders with multiple convictions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16212/22]
View answerTuesday, 29 March 2022
Questions (92)
Written answers
As the Deputy will appreciate, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty is central to our criminal justice system.
The decision to grant bail in a particular case must always be a matter for the presiding judge, but where bail is granted, the Criminal Justice Act 2017 provides for stricter terms for repeat serious offenders.
While there are no quick fixes to reducing reoffending, evidence shows that different targeted interventions, particularly in the community, play a significant role in addressing criminality and reducing reoffending.
I am acutely aware of the impact of crimes on individual victims and my Department’s annual Justice Plans outline a range of actions to progress work focused on reducing recidivism with a view to making Ireland an even safer place to live.
We are developing evidence-led policies which support people to address their offending behaviour and re-integrate back into their communities in a way that reduces the risk of reoffending.
As part of this, I will soon publish a Penal Policy action plan to build on a number of positive initiatives introduced to reduce reoffending over the past decade.
These include the Community Return and Community Support Schemes and the Joint Agency Response to Crime (J-ARC).
I am also looking at measures to extend the range of spent convictions which will improve the job prospects for people with past convictions who want to move away from offending behaviour and at extending the range of alternative community-based sanctions to break the cycle of reoffending.
While acknowledging the harm that crime causes to victims, the Department’s ‘Working to Change: Social Enterprise and Employment Strategy 2021-2023’ endeavours to identify and remove systemic barriers so people with past offending behaviour can make sustainable changes to move away from offending and into sustainable employment.
We also know that substance abuse is an indicator of an increased likelihood of recidivism.
To look at how we address this a High Level Taskforce was established to consider the mental health and addiction challenges of persons interacting with the criminal justice system.
The Taskforce report will be completed in the coming weeks.