Feargal Quinn (Independent)

We have talked today about fury and rage. The fury and rage I have been hearing about in recent days concerns those who are out on bail and committing crimes. There have been some very serious incidences of this and it jolted me to discover how prevalent it is. I gather there were eight instances last year of murders committed by people out on bail. In total there were some 28,000 crimes committed by people out on bail last year according to statistics. Significant concerns have arisen as a result but I am not sure how they can be addressed. I do not believe we need to amend the Constitution further because we have previously passed measures in this area. We have the legislation on which to act but we do not appear to be protecting our citizens from people who commit additional crimes after being charged and released on bail. Regardless of what we say about the freedom of the individual and innocence until proven guilty, we have to do something because the fury that is erupting in regard to banking will be little compared with the response to the safety of individuals.

The murder rate is quite high and the figures for other crimes are also horrific. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform claims that the figures have not been reviewed because the statistics do not extend far enough into the past to do so. That is not believable. I gather that the increase has been huge in the past four years alone.

Tomorrow, the European Commission is expected to severely criticise the six countries which are in breach of the Stability and Growth Pact, namely, France, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Latvia and Romania. We are supposed to limit our deficits to less than 3% of GDP. While all six countries have gone above 3%, Ireland is running the highest deficit, at 11%. We are facing a serious charge and, in light of Senator O'Toole's warning that social cohesion is in danger of falling apart, all sides need to come together to solve amicably the major challenge that is facing us.