Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I will not labour this point as we are only dealing with an amendment to the section. We discussed the accuracy of the technology of such a system last year. If we were to go down the road of introducing a tagging system, it is reasonable that at the very least not only its accuracy but its effectiveness would be proven. There are other proven alternatives to tagging such as resourcing the courts, making sure that there are not long delays in the hearing of court cases, and that the conditions of bail can be set by judges which would allow the probation and welfare service to monitor them or the Garda Síochána to ensure that those on bail do not breach their bail conditions. However, that has not been done and neither the Garda Síochána nor the probation and welfare service has been properly resourced to ensure that bail conditions are complied with.

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