Seanad debates

Tuesday, 21 March 2017

Commencement Matters

Electronic Tagging

2:30 pm

Photo of Gerard CraughwellGerard Craughwell (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy David Stanton, for coming to the House to outline his plans for the introduction and implementation of electronic monitoring. As he knows, section 102 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 provides for the electronic monitoring of the restrictions of an offender's movements imposed by a court under section 101 of the same Act. To date, the section has not been commenced, but I understand electronic monitoring has been used by the Irish Prison Service to monitor offenders who have been granted temporary release from prison - for example, those who need to attend hospital as inpatients. I understand that approximately 50 prisoners were electronically monitored, with good success, under the pilot scheme. I am also aware that the electronic monitoring of offenders out of bail or post-conviction is a controversial issue that requires the balancing of society's need to reduce reoffending with the serious implications of removing or restricting a citizen's liberty.

I agree with the view of the Irish Penal Reform Trust that any interference with the rights of someone facing trial must be proportionate and justified. While I can appreciate these concerns, my research indicates that Ireland is very far behind the rest of Europe when it comes to electronic monitoring. Our approach has been extremely conservative and, at worst, completely behind the curve. Electronic monitoring has been used successfully for over 20 years in the United Kingdom and for over 30 years in Australia.

Last year the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Act 2015 was introduced. It targets repeat offenders with consecutive sentences and the option for bail to be denied. The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, said she wholeheartedly agreed with this and that the burglary of a person's home was a heinous crime and traumatic for every victim. Furthermore, the high rates of recidivism and limited resources are causing havoc in communities. We know from statistics raised from An Garda Síochána's analysis service that 75% of burglaries are committed by 25% of burglars or offenders. I am joined in the Visitors Gallery today by Councillor Lynsey McGovern from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown who is extremely concerned about the number of burglaries in Dublin's eastern Garda division which covers most of the southside. In 2016 the biggest increase was in the Dundrum area which saw a 25% rise. It is mirrored in other areas where highly organised gangs have replaced the casual opportunist burglar.

While the 2015 Act is bound to be effective and to be welcomed as a disincentive to committing multiple burglaries, it relies entirely on the punishment model.While I agree with the importance of keeping burglars off the streets, the rehabilitative aspect of a custodial sentence must not be ignored. The Tánaiste, Deputy Fitzgerald, is on record as stating: "Monitoring of a convicted offender's movements, whether by electronic means or otherwise, does not provide a focus on rehabilitation in the same way that supervision does nor does it provide the security of a prison sentence in preventing further offences."

I believe it does not have to be an either-or scenario and that the combination of the electronic monitoring of burglars and habitual offenders while out on bail and post-conviction, with strong support services, offers a viable solution. Research shows that where electronic monitoring is developed with high levels of support from probation and other services, the rate of re-offending can be greatly reduced.

I acknowledge that electronic monitoring is an expensive process but technology is developing at speed. When I walked down Grafton Street at lunch time today, I received several notices on my mobile phone informing me of the various retail outlets and what they had on offer. We are all being monitored at some level and surveillance systems now can greatly strengthen the system of bail and streamline the monitoring of those awaiting trial.

Electronic monitoring has been described as a force multiplier. In times of greatly reduced Garda numbers and the closure of Garda stations, this is to be welcomed. I ask the Minister of State to ask the Department, the Tánaiste, Deputy Fitzgerald, and in terms of his own influence, to give serious consideration to widespread use of electronic monitoring as a disincentive and rehabilitative measure in the case of burglaries, sex offences and other serious crimes. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.

Photo of David StantonDavid Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I am here on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, who sends her apologies as she cannot be present. I thank the Senator for raising this issue and for his thoughtful and well-researched presentation.

As the Senator will be aware, the programme for Government gives a commitment to the preparation and fast-tracking of new bail legislation. The new Bail (Amendment) Bill, which recently completed Second Stage in the Dáil, will expand the factors a court may take into account in refusing bail, will increase the range of conditions that may be attached to bail, will enable victim evidence to be heard in certain circumstances and will require the court to give reasons for its decisions.

In addition, the Bill will make provision for electronic monitoring of persons on bail based on existing but uncommenced provisions in the Bail Act 1997. Unlike the existing provisions, the new Bill provides that electronic monitoring may be imposed as a bail condition only if the prosecution applies to the court for such a condition. This will ensure that the use of electronic monitoring can be targeted at those cases where it is most likely to be effective.

In parallel with the progress of the Bill, the Department of Justice and Equality has established a working group to examine issues surrounding electronic monitoring. The group is comprised of officials from the Department of Justice and Equality, the Irish Prison Service, the Probation Service, the Courts Service, An Garda Síochána and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The working group has been tasked with examining the suitability of the category of offences that should be focused on, examining the suitability of the category of alleged offenders that should be focused on, examining similar best practice examples from neighbouring jurisdictions, examining how any new electronic monitoring system will interact with other existing supervisory schemes, examining the arrangements to be put in place for contracting out this type of monitoring service and examining the resource implications for the implementation of any new system.

I can inform the Senator that the working group has already met three times since its inception in December 2016 and will continue to work in a focused way on this issue. The working group intends to make its recommendations for consideration as soon as possible in line with the progress of the legislation through the Oireachtas.

Photo of Gerard CraughwellGerard Craughwell (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State. Like Councillor McGovern, I live in the area we are talking about. The week before last, while a man suffering from motor neurone disease was being helped into his family car to go for medical treatment, burglars literally walked through the front door, took anything that was of value, went out the back door, climbed over my garden wall and got away. My garden wall is the best part of 10 ft. high on that person's side.

We were promised that Stepaside Garda station would reopen. At a recent public meeting, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport stated it was not a question of "if" but of "when". That would help to some degree in our area but I agree with Councillor McGovern, who has put a huge amount of work into the electronic tagging issue, that it is probably the best solution overall. At least we will know where these people are and we can identify them post crime. They can do an entire estate now in one evening. The issue is becoming very serious.

Photo of David StantonDavid Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I again thank the Senator for his input. The working group intends to make its recommendation as soon as possible in line with the progress of the legislation going through the Oireachtas.It has been established, it will continue its important work in this area and it will report its findings very soon. The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality will then be in a position to consider the proposals in full and will report to the House at that stage.