Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Eighty-five murders have been committed by people out on bail over recent years. I appreciate that some efforts have been made over the years to strengthen the bail laws but the figures speak for themselves. More than 32,000 crimes a year are now being committed by people who had been charged with other offences and are out on bail. More often than not, their court appearances are being totally funded by the taxpayers of this country, who have forked out millions to pay for free legal aid. Free legal aid in criminal cases is costing us more than €76 million a year. That has gone up steadily from €64 million in the past five years. In 2022, the courts issued more than 81,000 criminal legal aid certificates, again a big jump on the 72,000 total for the five years previously. In that five-year period, the financial payout has been €342 million of the Irish taxpayers' money where these criminals have contributed absolutely nothing. They do not have to make any contribution towards the cost of their defence no matter how many times they have appeared in court. The current system is not doing its job in deterring criminals from offending again. Much stronger action needs to be taken and a major reform of our bail laws is urgently needed.

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