Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

The Minister also discussed the same provision for electronic tagging. GPS is captured by this provision. One could also argue the enabling provision be included in the Bill and, if GPS ever becomes 100% accurate, the legislative base is intact.

Is there a costing for these systems? Last year, the Minister referred to a sum of €1,500 for monitoring. Yet, any system that requires 24-hour monitoring is not going to come cheap. The other side of the argument is that keeping an individual in prison is not a cheap option with the costs of incarceration ranging between €90,000 and €140,000 per annum.

I would have preferred if we had the views of the Irish Human Rights Commission before dealing with these provisions. There would be a great reluctance on the part of any court to confine someone to prison regarding a bail application unless there was a compelling reason. It may be more pro forma to electronically tag an individual. That is a significant infringement of one's civil liberties and the courts may have a much greater readiness to do so.

The concern arises, however, that more people may have some curtailment placed on their civil liberties through tagging when the basic principle of law that should apply is that people are innocent until proven guilty and should have their liberty fully vindicated until such time as they are convicted in a court of law of an unlawful offence. Somewhere between these two propositions, there is the common good. The common good is not served by serial re-offenders being at liberty. That is why the bail issue must be dealt with separately.

I am cautious on this matter. Does the technology work? How much will it cost? Will it be operated in a way that ensures it is still considered a significant curtailment of liberty? It should not become a matter of routine even when it is introduced. Electronic tagging by GPS or fixed-point tagging, which confines people to certain locations within certain hours, must be carefully evaluated for its effect and never become a matter of routine. Has the Minister considered that electronic tagging may become seen as a small enough matter and would be resorted to with much greater frequency than a refusal of bail and a confinement to prison? In such a scenario, does the Minister consider it might imbalance the rights of an individual who is accused but not convicted to his or her full liberty?

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