Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Representatives from Muintir na Tíre appeared before this committee today. I am sure the witnesses are familiar with that organisation and its excellent work on the community alert and text alert schemes in rural areas and its initiatives in partnership with An Garda Síochána.

Muintir na Tíre welcomed the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Bill 2015. There are considerable sections within rural communities, and urban communities, which hold the view that if a person has one conviction and two charges pending then that is a significant threshold within which to suspect that person is a threat to the public and for him or her to be detained. I wonder if the role of electronic tagging could strike a balance between the analysis of the witnesses and that of the community leaders on recidivist offenders. I agree that a rational, evidence-based approach is needed when looking at penal reform but the public also needs reassurance that the State is serious in its efforts to tackle criminals. Confidence in the criminal justice system is undermined when statistics can show the number of times people commit offences while on bail. Reference was made to a number of other options, particularly from the Irish Penal Reform Trust. Could the witnesses clarify what options are available other than incarceration without conviction?