New legislation to be passed by the Oireachtas shortly will provide for electronic tagging of people on bail, Minister of State for Justice David Stanton told the Seanad.
He said the programme for government gave a commitment on the preparation and fast-tracking of new bail legislation.
He said the Bail (Amendment) Bill, which had completed its second stage in the Dáil recently, expanded the factors a court could take into account in refusing bail.
It would increase the range of conditions that might be attached to bail and would enable victim evidence in certain circumstances as well as requiring the court to give reasons for its decisions.
“Unlike the existing provisions, the new Bill provides that electronic monitoring may be imposed as a bail condition only if the prosecution applies to the court for such a condition,” Mr Stanton added.
“This will ensure that the use of electronic monitoring can be targeted at those cases where it is most likely to be effective.”
Reoffending
Mr Stanton was replying to Independent Senator Gerard Craughwell, who said research showed that where electronic monitoring was developed with high levels of support from probation and other services, the rate of reoffending could be greatly reduced.
“I acknowledge that electronic monitoring is an expensive process but technology is developing at speed,” he added.
Mr Craughwell said while walking down Grafton Street in Dublin earlier he had received several notices on his mobile phone informing him of the various retail outlets and what they had on offer.
“We are all being monitored at some level and surveillance systems now can greatly strengthen the system of bail and streamline the monitoring of those awaiting trial,” he added.
Mr Craughwell said electronic monitoring had been described as a “force multiplier”, which was welcome at a time of greatly reduced garda numbers and the closure of stations.