Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have raised the issue of our bail laws in this House several times and I feel compelled to do so once again today. That is because, according to the latest figures I have received from the CSO, more than 275,000 crimes have been committed in this country in the past ten years by people who were out on bail, having been charged with other offences. These crimes range from murders to theft, and sexual offences to burglary, and the situation is getting worse.

In 2022, for which statistics have only recently become available, almost 32,500 crimes were committed by offenders while they were out on bail. That is a staggering 41% increase on the total that was recorded ten years previously, and it amounts to approximately 90 crimes every single day of the year.

In the past decade, this country has seen a doubling in the incidents of some crimes committed by people out on bail, including attempts and threats of murder and assaults, drunk driving and drug offences. We have also suffered substantial increases in public order offences, which are up by 75%. Theft is up by 72%, damage to property is up by 53%, and burglary is up by 50% by these people.

Over that ten-year period, recorded crime incidents where at least one offender was on bail included 85 homicides, 268 sexual offences, more than 10,000 attempts of or threats of murder and assaults, 71,000 thefts, 57,000 public order offences, 26,000 drug offences, 14,000 burglaries and many more other offences, some of which are extremely serious breaches of the law. One in every six crimes committed in this country is now being perpetrated by somebody who is already being charged with another offence and who has been granted bail to roam the streets to prey on others.

Surely, at this point, we need to radically reform our bail system. Among those statistics I have outlined, the Taoiseach can be sure that there are many hardened career criminals with hundreds of convictions under their belts who are being allowed to carry on ruining the lives of others. They know that every time they are caught, they will be let out on bail until their case is heard. When will this Government wake up to reality and seriously tackle the problem of bail being granted to people who are very often serious, serial offenders? As the figures show, they have no hesitation in leaving the courthouse and resuming their life of crime straight away. Will the Taoiseach strengthen the laws governing the granting of bail so that the law-abiding people of Ireland are protected from these criminals?

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