Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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445. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of offences committed in which at least one offender was on bail for another offence in 2018, by crime type; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45797/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Central Statistics Office, as the national statistical agency, is responsible for the compilation and publication of crime statistics. As the Deputy will be aware, the CSO is currently publishing crime statistics under reservation.

The following table shows the number of crime incidents which are currently recorded as having at least one offender on bail for the years 2013-2017. The figures for 2018 are not available from the CSO at this time.

As the Deputy knows, a decision to grant bail in a particular case is a matter for the presiding Judge, who is, subject only to the Constitution and the law, independent in the exercise of his or her judicial functions. There is also a Constitutional presumption in favour of the grant of bail as, under Irish Law, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The Criminal Justice Act 2017 strengthens the operation of the bail system with the aim of making the law as effective as possible in protecting the public against crimes committed by persons on bail.

Recorded crime incidents with at least one suspected offender on bail 2013 to 2018 by type of offence committed.

These statistics are categorised as Under Reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by CSO

see.