Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Please God, it will be passed at some stage.

In respect of the horrific attack over the weekend, we must look at the issue of electronic tagging because there is provision for people who are out on bail to be electronically tagged. Believe it or not, that legislation is over ten years old, yet it has never been enacted. The provision for it to happen has never been enacted. We must also look at the issue of repeat offenders and the issue of "three strikes and you're tagged". Almost 80% of burglaries are committed by 5% of criminals. We must look at repeat offenders being tagged when the rest of their sentence is normally commuted and they are no longer in prison. They should continue to be tagged as part of their sentencing so that we can see a drop in crime. When electronic tagging was introduced in Florida for crimes like theft, sexual assaults and other assaults, the re-offending rate dropped by 95%. If we can look at figures like that, we must look at the practical solution to a problem. Electronic tagging costs €6 per day while it costs €163 per day to keep someone in prison so I ask the Leader to look into that issue.

Our national anthem has the most colourful history. It was introduced informally in 1924 by the Free State Government and in 1926, it was formally adopted by the Executive but it did not tell anybody. Legal disputes ensued between the author of the national anthem, Peadar Kearney, and the State on two occasions with Peadar Kearney securing £2,500 for the copyright. Copyright law was extended by the State and the EU. The copyright lapsed in 2012. I brought in legislation dealing with this issue. We have all agreed to engage in the public consultation process and it is the way forward on this issue. In respect of the colourful history of our national anthem, the musical notes we all hear on All-Ireland Sunday and in the Aviva Stadium with our rugby and soccer teams were composed by none other than Colonel Brazé of the Army Band in 1926. Again, it was never formally adopted in any legislative format.The public consultation process is the best way forward. It could be done this year thus ensuring that it is properly protected.