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

I thank the Minister. I am glad that the Minister mentioned the Irish Prison Service. Data from the Irish Prison Service shows that recidivism rates in respect of burglary and related offences is at 79.5%. This is the highest rate for any offence and it is considerably above the overall rate for recidivism of 62%.

I also raise this question in the context of the recent comments by Assistant Commissioner John O'Driscoll when he referred to the large number of prolific burglars for whom the convictions and sentences imposed on them are not having any effect, be it a deterrent effect or otherwise. Assistant Commissioner O'Driscoll has said that when the Garda drew up a list last autumn of burglary gangs it wanted to target during the winter phase of Operation Thor, the sheer extent of some of their criminal records stood out. We need to recognise that this issue causes great concern to the public. Although burglary and aggravated burglary is referred to as a property offence, it is in fact much more serious because there is a huge impact on the persons affected.

I welcome the proposals the Minister spoke of with regard to his Department's policy developments but we need to do something else by way of a deterrent. Does the Minister have any proposals around deterrents?

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