Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Recently, I had a lunch meeting with a young man who is completing his final Blackhall Place examinations and who works on the criminal law side in a part of Dublin that shall remain nameless. He brought up the subject of one person with whom he was assisting in his office and who had something like 147 previous records. This person was a kind of repeat offender who most likely would have a further 100 records in his career. The question that young man put to me and which I should ask here is whether there is a view within the Garda or held by the Commissioner that a system of electronic tagging might be introduced for people who have a long record of repeat offences, which sometimes are quite serious, such as burglaries or whatever. I do not make this point lightly and know the point of view of the civil rights people. However, if one takes as an example the case that occurred in County Tipperary of that appalling assault on a family, resulting in robbery and injuries to a decent family, would it not make sense and save a lot of time in Garda surveillance if the Garda knew where those people who have a known criminal record were? This was the point made to me by the student and I replied that were the opportunity to arise, I would put it to the Commissioner and I seek her views on this issue. I do not make this point flippantly and have mixed views on the proposal but at the same time, when one sees someone with 147 previous convictions, some of which probably were for petty crimes, it begs the question as to whether it would not be useful to the Garda force to know where are certain individuals at particular times.