Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 689: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on whether up to 25% of crime is committed by people who are already on bail for other alleged offences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14866/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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For the first time, the Garda Commissioner provided statistics on headline offences committed by persons who were recorded as being on bail at the time the offence was committed in his 2004 annual report. These figures show that 5% of headline offences were committed by persons on bail. Provisional figures for 2005 indicate that 5.36% of headline offences were committed by persons on bail.

I welcome the provision of this information as a contribution to public discussion. The statistics in the Commissioner's report classify offences committed while on bail under the ten headline crime groups under which the report's statistics are categorised. It is important to note that all offences in, for example, the homicide group are not the homicide offences of murder and manslaughter. The homicide group of headline offences also includes the offences of attempted murder, murder threats, infanticide, abortion and procuring or assisting in an abortion.

In respect of bail in general, during the term of office of the rainbow coalition, the number of prisoners on temporary release reached an all time high of 20% at one stage. As a result of the action of this Government, the so-called revolving door system operated by the rainbow coalition has been stopped and the percentage of the prison population on temporary release is approximately 2.3%. I would also point out that, while it is disturbing that offences are committed by persons on bail, the offence for which the person received bail may be a minor one.

Our legislative provisions for the granting of bail are very stringent. The 16th amendment of the Constitution provides for the refusal of bail to a person charged with a serious offence where it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence by that person. The Bail Act 1997 gave effect to the amendment and tightened up the bail regime generally. Furthermore, the Criminal Justice Act 1984 provides that any sentence of imprisonment passed on a person for an offence committed shall be consecutive on any sentence passed on him or her for a previous offence. The granting of bail in accordance with the Act, the amount of bail and sentencing are matters for the courts, which are — subject only to the Constitution and the law — independent in the exercise of their judicial functions.

I have requested that the empirical evidence which is available be examined to ascertain the extent of the problem. I believe that an evaluation of how the Bail Act has been operated since enactment should also be carried out and I am arranging for this to be done.