Ms Deirdre Duffy:

Can be, yes. I would like to connect the Deputy's question to the previous question. There is an existing framework around the determination of bail. In this scrutiny of the general scheme of the Bill we are looking at codification. There are some things which have changed but there are not huge, substantive changes. I am not referring to the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Bill 2015. This is only attaching a sticking plaster to the system of bail. We actually need to look at other issues. A judge can refuse bail to serious offenders; the seriousness of the offence is one of the conditions. We need an evidence base of statistics, as already referenced by the Chairman - maybe my colleagues have those statistics - with regard to why people are being granted bail and why they are being refused bail. One of the positives about this Bill is that in most instances there will have to be written decisions on the adjudication of bail.

I do not know if I am making the point absolutely clear. The Bill is about codifying existing provisions, and what I am trying to say is that this will not solve the big problems because it does not deal with the root causes. We are not looking at what has and has not worked - largely, what has not worked. We know things are not working because our remand centres are full, our prisons are overcrowded and, as previous speakers noted, we still have members of the community who do not feel safe.

To repeat what my colleagues said, we need to take a holistic, in-the-round view and connect this type of bail application to the investigation that preceded it, namely, what the Garda is doing and how the courts system is operating.