Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are many positive aspects to the report. I am not surprised, nor would I expect anything from Deputy O'Callaghan other than that he would concentrate on the negative aspects. I accept what he says in so far as the report clearly identifies that reoffending is highest among those originally sentenced in respect of robbery and burglary. Rates of recidivism within three years was 72.3% for the 2012 cohort and 68.9% for the 2011 cohort of those convicted of robbery. The corresponding figures for those convicted of burglary were 69.4% and 71.5%. These figures are very concerning.

In the period since then, the Government has taken a range of steps to address the issue, including reforming the law with the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Act 2015 and the denial of bail to repeat offenders. More generally, I point to the scale of Garda activity to tackle burglary and property related crime and to the significant results that flow therefrom. Up to May 2019, Garda action on burglary and property related crime led to 10,000 arrests and more than 11,500 criminal charges, including in the area of burglary, handling stolen property and possession of firearms. I expect these and other steps will lead to further improvement in these statistics.

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