Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

On the first point the Deputy made, the legislative provisions for the granting of bail are very stringent. The 16th amendment to the Constitution provides for the refusal of bail to a person charged with a serious offence where it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence by that person. We amended the law to deal with that. The Bail Act 1997 gave effect to the amendment and it tightened up the bail regime generally. That provision exists for the court to deal with it.

The earlier Criminal Justice Act provides that any sentence of imprisonment passed on a person for an offence committed shall be consecutive on any offence passed on him or her for a previous offence. The granting of bail is in accordance with that Act. The amount of bail and sentencing are matters for the courts which are, subject only to the Constitution and law, independent in their exercise of judicial functions. The law is clear and the powers exist. The courts have the provision.

In earlier years people who were out on bail through early release schemes comprised about 15% of the overall prison population. The latest figures I have indicate this is now approximately 2.3%. The provisional figures for last year show that 5.36% of headline offences were committed by persons on bail and the statistics in the Garda Commissioner's report classify offences committed while on bail under the ten headline crime groups under which the reports are categorised. That is all I have to say about that. It is disturbing to read the offences committed by persons on bail. The offence for which a person has received bail may be a fairly minor one, which needs to be taken into account.

On the second question, subject to checking, Deputy Kenny is right. I believe that is the way the Bill is worded, if I recall correctly. I believe the Deputy is correct on that. Whether the Minister brings forward an amendment on Committee Stage is a matter for him. If I recall it, what the Deputy has said is correct.

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