Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also will not be supporting the amendment for the following reasons. A person accused of sexual assault or rape can apply for and be granted bail. One of the conditions of bail set by a judge is that the person must stay away from the complainant in the sexual assault or rape case. If the individual who is accused then turns up near the house of or in the vicinity of the area in which the complainant lives, that is a breach of the bail conditions. From the point of view of the complainant, it is very unsatisfactory that she - most likely - must wait for the DPP to go back to court to apply for a change of bail conditions. It is reasonable that gardaí be given the power to arrest an individual who is in breach of a bail condition.

Deputy Clare Daly said that it is about gardaí having a power to prevent an offence or something that is about to happen. However, it is not simply that. If we look at the new subsection 10(a)(i), (ii) and (iii), it is clear that subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) go beyond that. Deputy Clare Daly is right when she says that the subsection will give the power to gardaí to arrest a person if they believe that he or she is about to contravene any of the conditions of the recognisance. It then goes on to state that it also covers cases where the person is in the act of contravening any of the conditions or where the person has contravened any of the conditions. This is an important protection which will ensure that bail conditions are taken seriously. People obviously have an entitlement to bail. However, there are various factors that are weighed up. If conditions are set for a person in order to be granted bail, that individual must comply with those conditions. If the conditions are breached to such an extent that the person is contravening them, gardaí should be given the power of arrest in respect of that.