Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join other Members in expressing my deepest sorrow and heartbreak as I heard Emma on "Morning Ireland" this morning. It is one of the hardest and most heartbreaking interviews I have ever witnessed. I compliment Ms Audrey Carville on the manner in which she conducted that difficult interview. It really brings home in the starkest form the reality of what has happened in our health service. Ms Mhic Mhathúna went on to describe a dream she had that she was passing away and losing her life but she did not get the opportunity to say goodbye to her children. It was heartbreaking and I cannot imagine for one minute what that lady and her family are going through. We owe it to her and many others to get to the bottom of this so that confidence can be restored in our health services. The quicker we get to that point, the better.

I rise today to mention another matter that caused me great concern and alarm when I came across statistics from the Central Statistics Office, CSO. They indicate over 300,000 crimes were committed by people on bail in this country between 2003 and 2016. That works out at a startling 2,000 crimes per month committed by criminals out on a bail merry-go-round, if I can call it that. We are all aware of numerous examples of serious crimes committed by people on bail, sometimes tragically ending in a fatality, with innocent people losing their lives. It is a scandal that needs to be addressed. We cannot allow the position to continue where innocent people are exposed to burglary or serious crime committed by people out on bail. We have a duty to protect innocent people and they should be our priority.

I know there is a commitment within the programme for Government on the electronic tagging of criminals out on bail. This must be fast-tracked. We can consider that the cost of keeping a person in prison for 24 hours is approximately €160 compared with the estimated €6 per day cost of electronic tagging. It is time for it to be introduced so our citizens can get proper protection. For that reason I ask the Leader to invite the appropriate Minister to the House to advise us on the status of this legislation.