Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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613. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the degree to which persons remanded on bail have been noted to re-offend in each of the past five years to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19586/14]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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In relation to the statistics requested by the Deputy, 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 relevant statistics directly to the Deputy. I can inform the Deputy that the drafting of the General Scheme of a Bail Bill to modernise the law on bail is at an advanced stage in my Department. I intend to bring proposals to Government on the matter in the first half of this year, if possible, having regard to other legislative priorities. It has, unfortunately, not been possible to progress this legislation as quickly as I had hoped due to other legislative imperatives.

I am conscious of public concern about the extent to which offences are committed by persons on bail. I share that concern and believe that bail law must be continually reviewed to ensure that all possible avenues are taken to protect the public against the commission of crime, particularly serious crime, by persons on bail. While the primary aim of the proposed Bail Bill is to consolidate and update bail law, I am taking the opportunity in this legislation to seek, as far as is possible, within the constraints of the Constitution and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, to restructure the law so that it has a focus on the protection of the individual and of the public. The intention is that the new proposals will provide better guidance to the courts on how such protection might be provided.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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614. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which the various forms of crime have fluctuated on the basis of statistics available over the past seven years to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19587/14]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Garda Síochána Act 2005 makes provision for the compilation and publication of crime statistics by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), 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.