Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

First, on my own behalf and that of my Regional Group colleagues, could I offer our condolences to Deputy Verona Murphy, whose father, Patrick, passed away suddenly this morning? May his gentle soul rest in peace.

Four out of five burglars released from prison in Ireland go on to re-offend within a short period - more than half of them within a year of their release. It is the same with people jailed for public order offences. Four out of five of them are back before the courts within three years of them being released. Their victims, the very people they robbed from and whose lives they have seriously disrupted, have to pay for these criminals to get a proper defence, as does every other law-abiding taxpayer in this country. Last year, the bill to the taxpayer for providing free legal aid in criminal cases was more than €76 million. In the past seven years, we have paid out in excess of €450 million in free legal aid. A large portion of this money is being spent on defending the indefensible - people who have no regard for the law or the consequences of their actions, who have broken the law on countless occasions and who know that every time that they are caught they will get the best defence in court without it costing them one red cent.

In the past when I have raised the issue of withholding free legal aid to persistent offenders who have broken the law on countless occasions, I have been informed that this would be constitutionally impossible. In that case, we should change the law so that these repeat offenders, often with hundreds of convictions behind them, must over a period at least repay the cost of providing that legal aid. That is to say we should be deducting from the pay they get from their employers until the debt is repaid. In the case of those drawing social welfare, the same should be done. A certain amount of money should be withheld from their weekly payments. Hitting them where it hurts is the only way that I can see it making these repeat offenders think twice. They are making a mockery of the law and there is never any compensation for the victim of their crimes. If they get caught, it is the taxpayer, including the very people whom they have victimised, who have to pay for them to be defended in court. The current legislation programme includes a new criminal justice (legal aid) Bill under which it is proposed to update and strengthen the system of granting criminal legal aid. Will the Taoiseach commit to include in that legislation changes that would require defendants with a record of persistent offending to be forced to pay back the cost of free legal aid provided to them?

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