Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 175: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform the extent to which bail was granted in criminal cases in each of the past five years and to date in 2010 where the gardaí had objected to such bail; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43351/10]

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 statistics directly to the Deputy.

The operation of the legislation relating to bail is kept under continuing review by my Department, and proposals for amendment of the legislation are brought forward when that is considered necessary. A decision to grant bail in a particular case is a matter for the court, which is, subject only to the Constitution and the law, independent in the exercise of its judicial functions. There is a constitutional presumption in favour of bail, since, in the eyes of the law, a person is innocent until proven guilty.

Late last year, I obtained Government approval to commence work on a new Bail Bill. The Bill will restate and consolidate bail law. In addition, a number of matters to improve the operation of the law are being examined. These include:

(a) providing that the courts must have regard to the nature and seriousness of any danger to any person or the public posed by the release of the accused person on bail,

(b) creation of presumptions that bail should be refused for people charged with certain types of serious crime; in view of European Convention on Human Rights restrictions, such presumptions would act as a form of guidance to the courts in identifying those who present unacceptable risks of committing serious offences if granted bail, and

(c) extending the powers of the courts to refuse bail where necessary to prevent the commission of further offences to include more minor offences below the current level of seriousness required by the Bail Act 1997.

I hope to be in a position to bring proposals to Government before the beginning of the next Dáil session.