Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

652. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality it has emerged that the suspect being held for the killing of a person (details supplied) is currently facing charges before the courts for violent disorder and producing a knife during a dispute; the steps he is taking to reduce recidivism by people on bail; the travel restrictions the suspect was under as a result of the bail; and the reason an electronic tag not used in this case. [7497/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

While I cannot comment on individual cases, or matters before the Courts, I can detail some of the measures that have been put in place or are being advanced in order to tackle violent crime and reduce recidivism by people on bail.

In considering such matters, it is important to note that restricting a person’s liberty is a serious issue, given the Constitutional presumption that a person is deemed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

The Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990 has recently been amended to increase the maximum penalty from 5 to 7 years imprisonment for the offences of public possession of an article intended to cause injury, incapacitate or intimidate, trespassing with a knife, and producing a knife to unlawfully intimidate another person. Separately, the maximum penalty for assault causing harm was recently increased from 5 to 10 years.

In relation to recidivism by people on bail, the Bail Act 1997 has been strengthened on multiple occasions to provide for stricter bail terms (including the use of curfews) for repeat serious offenders, along with stronger Garda powers to deal with breaches of bail. Where an individual fails to comply with any bail conditions, the judge may issue a bench warrant, giving An Garda Síochána the power to arrest and bring the person before the court to answer all charges relating to the bail. Furthermore, a member of An Garda Síochána may arrest a person immediately without a warrant where they have reasonable cause to suspect that that person has breached, or is about to breach, a bail condition and consider the person’s arrest necessary to prevent harm to, interference with, or intimidation of a victim or witness. A breach of bail may result in an additional charge and an order and/or surety for ‘forfeiture and estreatment’ of the bail money.

Currently Section 6B of the Bail Act 1997 (as amended), which provides for the use of electronic monitoring for certain persons admitted to bail, has yet to be commenced. Additionally, a service provider will need to be in place in order to apply electronic monitoring technology in practice. The Programme for Government commits to implement electronic tagging for appropriate categories of offender and a steering group is in place, made up of sectoral representatives who will be involved in delivery. Work has started on scoping out the practical operational considerations for relevant categories of offender to inform next steps.