Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

He, along with the 87 other members of the force who have given their lives in the line of duty, did so out of a sense of service, a vocation to care for and protect their fellow citizens. There are no words of sorrow or gratitude equal to that service and that sacrifice. We can, as legislators and Government, show our support for the members of An Garda Síochána in a practical way by giving them the resources they need to do their work. I have spoken already of the investment in vehicles, equipment, buildings and technology being made by the Government. The Bill we are debating today will be a valuable legislative tool for gardaí in their work to tackle burglary.

We also need to address Garda numbers. The Garda College in Templemore was reopened to new recruits in September 2014. Since then, six intakes of new Garda trainees have entered the Garda College, giving a total intake of 550 recruits. Of these, 295 have already attested and are now working in communities nationwide. The Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, recently announced the opening of a recruitment campaign for new members of An Garda Síochána in 2016. This new campaign underscores the Government's commitment to seamless ongoing recruitment to An Garda Síochána to ensure that the service is renewed and has the capacity to deliver an effective, responsive police service throughout the country to protect our communities and respond to emerging crime trends. This additional recruitment will bring to 1,150 the total number of Garda trainees recruited under the Government between September 2014 and 2016. The 2016 campaign will include a special stream for eligible members of the Garda Reserve, who give their time on a voluntary basis to support the work of An Garda Síochána.

Community-based organisations, such as the Irish Farmers Association, Neighbourhood Watch and Muintir na Tíre, are key partners of An Garda Síochána in the fight against rural crime. Part of Operation Thor is to raise awareness in the community as to how they can work together to prevent crime. The funding being provided to support community alert and Crimestoppers is being doubled, with a total allocation of €397,000 in 2016.

I will now outline the provisions of the Bill. Section 1 of the Bill seeks to ensure that prolific burglars can be refused bail in appropriate cases. It is necessary to recall that a decision to grant bail in a particular case is a matter for the court, which is, subject only to the Constitution and the law, independent in the exercise of its judicial functions. There is a constitutional presumption in favour of bail because in the eyes of the law, a person is innocent until proven guilty.

Section 2 of the Bail Act 1997, which gave effect to the 16th amendment of the Constitution, permits the courts to refuse bail to a person charged with a serious offence where refusal of bail is reasonably considered necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence by that person. Burglary offences are designated as serious offences for the purposes of the Bail Act. However, it is clear that prolific burglars with numerous previous convictions are repeatedly granted bail, despite Garda objections, even when charged with a series of burglaries.

Section 1 of the Bill will add new provisions to section 2 of the Bail Act 1997. The new provisions will apply where a court is considering a bail application from an adult charged with a relevant offence alleged to have been committed in a dwelling. A relevant offence is defined as a burglary or aggravated burglary offence contrary to section 12 or 13 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001, respectively. For the purposes of bail applications in such cases, the court must consider previous convictions for domestic burglary, coupled with pending charges or recent convictions as evidence that the accused person is likely to commit a further domestic burglary.

Turning to the detail of the provisions, the new subsection (2A) applies where a court is deciding whether it is reasonably considered necessary to refuse bail to prevent the commission of a serious offence by a person who is charged with a burglary alleged to have been committed in a dwelling. In such a case, if certain circumstances exist, as set out in subsection (2B), the court must consider the existence of these circumstances as evidence that the person is likely to commit a further domestic burglary. These circumstances are that the person has a previous conviction for domestic burglary committed in the five years before the bail application and that the person has been convicted of at least two domestic burglaries committed in the period starting six months before and ending six months after the alleged commission of the offence for which he or she is seeking bail, the person has been charged with at least two domestic burglaries allegedly committed in the same period, or the person has been convicted of at least one domestic burglary committed, and charged with at least one other domestic burglary allegedly committed, in the same period. The provisions, while making it clear that prolific burglars should be refused bail in the circumstances set out in the Bill, will leave the courts all necessary discretion to vindicate the constitutional rights of an accused person in relation to bail.

The new subsection (2C) provides that a reference in subsection (2B) to a conviction for a relevant offence includes a conviction that is currently under appeal. The new subsection (2D) provides that subsection (2B) will not prejudice the operation of section 258 of the Children Act 2001, which provides for the non-disclosure of certain findings of guilt relating to offences committed by persons under the age of 18. A new subsection (4) will be inserted into section 2 of the Bail Act to define "dwelling" and "relevant offence" for the purposes of the new provisions.

Section 2 of the Bill seeks to deal with the related problem of concurrent sentences being handed down for multiple burglaries. In many cases, relatively short sentences are imposed when multiple burglary offences are taken into account by the court. Section 2 will insert a new section 54A into the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001. The new section will require a court which decides to impose custodial sentences for multiple domestic burglary offences committed within a 12 month window to impose such sentences consecutively. The new section applies only to a relevant offence, which means a burglary or aggravated burglary. The provisions will apply only to adults previously convicted of a domestic burglary committed in the five years before the burglary offence for they are being sentenced.

Subsection (1) of the new section 54A will apply where an adult is being sentenced to imprisonment for a domestic burglary, was convicted of another domestic burglary committed in the five years before the offence for which he or she is currently being sentenced, and was sentenced to imprisonment for another domestic burglary committed in the period starting six months before and ending six months after the burglary offence for which he or she is now being sentenced.In such a case, any sentence of imprisonment which the court chooses to impose for the burglary for which the person is currently being sentenced must be consecutive to any sentence of imprisonment imposed for the prior domestic burglary offences.

Subsection (2) makes it clear that where a prior burglary offence would come within paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1), that offence may be considered for the purpose of satisfying either paragraph (b) or (c) but not both. Subsection (3) provides that subsection (1) will apply only where the burglary offence for which the person is being sentenced was committed after the Bill comes into operation and will apply whether the other offences were committed before or after that date.

Subsection (4) provides that the aggregate term of imprisonment for consecutive sentences imposed by the District Court under the new provisions can extend to but not exceed two years. No such restriction will apply to the Circuit Court. Subsection (5) provides that a reference in subsection (1) to a conviction for a relevant offence includes a conviction that is currently under appeal. Subsection (6) defines "dwelling" and "relevant offence" for the purposes of the new section. The discretion of a court whether or not to impose a custodial sentence will not be restricted by the new provisions. Section 3 is a standard provision providing for the Short Title and commencement of the Bill.

This Bill targets repeat burglary offenders through bail measures and provisions concerning the imposition of consecutive sentencing for repeat offending. It is one part of a broader co-ordinated strategy to tackle burglary and other crime through investment in Garda resources, increased recruitment, specialist operations like Thor, co-ordinated offender management through the Joint Agency Response to Crime, JARC, investment in community initiatives like text alert and investment in crime fighting technology, including the DNA database. The key objective of this legislation is to target a cohort of persistent offenders who prey on law abiding householders and clearly have no concern for the damage and distress which they inflict on other people.

I commend the Bill to the House.