In a statement issued to farmersjournal.ie, the Department of Justice said the practice of electronic monitoring “does not prevent a person committing a serious offence”.
Amid calls for legislation to be brought forward on electronic tagging of people on bail due to fears over rural crime, the Department clarified that a certain section of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 allows for the introduction of electronic monitoring as a condition of bail at the discretion of the court. However, it said “due to concerns about the operational effectiveness of untargeted electronic monitoring,” these provisions have not been brought into operation.
The reasons for this include the Department's assertion that electronic monitoring “does not prevent a person committing a serious offence”. It also says the equipment can be subject to technical failures and blind spots and that the monitoring equipment can be removed.
"Experience in other jurisdictions has shown that electronic monitoring has significant limitations," it continued.
The statement said the Minister for Justice’s preference is that serial offenders charged with burglary offences who are likely to re-offend should be refused bail.
Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Bill
In April this year, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald published the General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Bill to target repeat burglars. The Bill, introduced into Dáil Éireann at the beginning of October, requires the District Court to provide for consecutive jail sentences where a burglar is being sentenced for multiple offences and, crucially, allows courts to refuse bail for offenders who have a previous conviction for domestic burglary coupled with two or more pending charges.
Announcing the Bill, the Minister said it is “targeted at those repeat burglars who have previous convictions who are charged with multiple offences of residential burglary. Figures from the Garda Síochána Analysis Service indicate that 75% of burglaries are committed by 25% of burglars. Targeting this cohort of repeat offenders has the potential to significantly reduce the number of burglaries being committed.”
A separate Bill, the new Bail Bill, announced in July this year, does contain a provision for the use of electronic tagging in limited number of cases where high-risk persons are on bail. But the arguments for electronically tagging the accused persons in these cases must take place at the application of the prosecution. The new Bail Bill, which also requires courts to give reasons for bail decisions, has yet to be introduced into the Dáil.
Rural crime
The recent public interest in the electronic tagging of persons on bail comes amid heightened media publicity on the level of crime in rural areas. On Friday 16 October, RTÉ One’s The Late Late Show held a discussion on rural crime. The Irish Farmers Journal’s Mairéad Lavery was a contributor on the panel. The item followed on from a heavily attended meeting on rural crime in Thurles, Co Tipperary the night before. An estimated 1,500 people attended the meeting “Save our Community” in the Anner Hotel on 15 October. Proposals discussed toward the end of the meeting included:
Reform of bail lawsElectronic monitoring of repeat/habitual offendersReform of trespass lawsMonitoring of cash for gold/scrapyards/car boot salesCollection of fines at source”Tags lying in a box”
Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on RTÉ Radio 1 one week after the meeting and the item on The Late Late Show, Independent TD Denis Naughten said there are 50 electronic tags lying in a box which are not being used by the Justice Department.
He said the tags were included in a contract signed by the Irish Prison Service 12 months ago on the basis that the sections of the 2007 Criminal Justice Act that provide for electronic tagging would be signed into law by the Minister for Justice. “There are 50 tags lying in a box somewhere,” he said. “It costs around €140,000 a year to monitor those tags but the Irish public is paying that anyway.”
The TD said Ireland has a “19th century government and public service system and 21st century country. One quarter of all burglars commit three quarters of all burglaries - there are 33 robberies a week being carried out by those out on bail,” the TD said. “The provision on tagging should be signed into law by the Minister.”
Read more: Co Galway mart ‘ransacked’ after break-in
In a statement issued to farmersjournal.ie, the Department of Justice said the practice of electronic monitoring “does not prevent a person committing a serious offence”.
Amid calls for legislation to be brought forward on electronic tagging of people on bail due to fears over rural crime, the Department clarified that a certain section of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 allows for the introduction of electronic monitoring as a condition of bail at the discretion of the court. However, it said “due to concerns about the operational effectiveness of untargeted electronic monitoring,” these provisions have not been brought into operation.
The reasons for this include the Department's assertion that electronic monitoring “does not prevent a person committing a serious offence”. It also says the equipment can be subject to technical failures and blind spots and that the monitoring equipment can be removed.
"Experience in other jurisdictions has shown that electronic monitoring has significant limitations," it continued.
The statement said the Minister for Justice’s preference is that serial offenders charged with burglary offences who are likely to re-offend should be refused bail.
Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Bill
In April this year, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald published the General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Bill to target repeat burglars. The Bill, introduced into Dáil Éireann at the beginning of October, requires the District Court to provide for consecutive jail sentences where a burglar is being sentenced for multiple offences and, crucially, allows courts to refuse bail for offenders who have a previous conviction for domestic burglary coupled with two or more pending charges.
Announcing the Bill, the Minister said it is “targeted at those repeat burglars who have previous convictions who are charged with multiple offences of residential burglary. Figures from the Garda Síochána Analysis Service indicate that 75% of burglaries are committed by 25% of burglars. Targeting this cohort of repeat offenders has the potential to significantly reduce the number of burglaries being committed.”
A separate Bill, the new Bail Bill, announced in July this year, does contain a provision for the use of electronic tagging in limited number of cases where high-risk persons are on bail. But the arguments for electronically tagging the accused persons in these cases must take place at the application of the prosecution. The new Bail Bill, which also requires courts to give reasons for bail decisions, has yet to be introduced into the Dáil.
Rural crime
The recent public interest in the electronic tagging of persons on bail comes amid heightened media publicity on the level of crime in rural areas. On Friday 16 October, RTÉ One’s The Late Late Show held a discussion on rural crime. The Irish Farmers Journal’s Mairéad Lavery was a contributor on the panel. The item followed on from a heavily attended meeting on rural crime in Thurles, Co Tipperary the night before. An estimated 1,500 people attended the meeting “Save our Community” in the Anner Hotel on 15 October. Proposals discussed toward the end of the meeting included:
Reform of bail lawsElectronic monitoring of repeat/habitual offendersReform of trespass lawsMonitoring of cash for gold/scrapyards/car boot salesCollection of fines at source”Tags lying in a box”
Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on RTÉ Radio 1 one week after the meeting and the item on The Late Late Show, Independent TD Denis Naughten said there are 50 electronic tags lying in a box which are not being used by the Justice Department.
He said the tags were included in a contract signed by the Irish Prison Service 12 months ago on the basis that the sections of the 2007 Criminal Justice Act that provide for electronic tagging would be signed into law by the Minister for Justice. “There are 50 tags lying in a box somewhere,” he said. “It costs around €140,000 a year to monitor those tags but the Irish public is paying that anyway.”
The TD said Ireland has a “19th century government and public service system and 21st century country. One quarter of all burglars commit three quarters of all burglaries - there are 33 robberies a week being carried out by those out on bail,” the TD said. “The provision on tagging should be signed into law by the Minister.”
Read more: Co Galway mart ‘ransacked’ after break-in
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