Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 268: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the fact that 895 people were arrested for possession of drugs for sale and supply while they were on bail; the number of those suspected offenders who were again released on continuing bail; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25641/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Garda Síochána Act 2005 makes provision for the compilation and publication of crime statistics by the Central Statistics Office, as the national statistical agency, and the CSO has established a dedicated unit for this purpose. I have requested the CSO to provide the statistics sought by the Deputy directly to him.

The law takes a serious view of offences committed by persons on bail. The Criminal Justice Act, 1984 provides for mandatory consecutive sentences to apply where a person is convicted of an offence committed while on bail. In addition, the law provides that the fact that an offence was committed while on bail must be treated as an aggravating factor at sentencing and that the court shall impose a sentence that is greater than that which would have been imposed otherwise, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

There have been concerns at how, in practice, our bail laws have been operating, and these led to the inclusion in the Criminal Justice Act, 2007 of a series of new provisions designed to tighten up on the granting of bail. These allow the prosecution to mount a more effective challenge to bail applications, for example, applicants for bail can be required to provide a statement of their means so that the prosecution can highlight any divergence their between their lifestyles and their stated means as evidence of their involvement in gangland activity. The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) is now able to appeal to the High Court against a decision of the District Court to grant bail and against the conditions attached by the District Court to the bail.

The effectiveness of these provisions will be reviewed. In addition I intend to keep all aspects of the operation of our bail law under review to see whether further changes are necessary. One such change is included in the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, currently going through the Oireachtas.