119. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 541 of 4 March 2025, regarding the number of crimes that were recorded where the suspected offenders were on bail, to outline the breakdown of the other 41% of offence types committed by offenders on bail for 2024 for which detail was not given in that reply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14284/25]

Jim O'Callaghan, Minister for Justice: The Bail Act 1997 (as amended), provides for the refusal of bail in particular circumstances in line with the Constitution. The law sets out the circumstances where bail can be refused and also provides powers to An Garda Síochána to object to bail being granted. The Bail Act has been strengthened on a number of occasions to allow the courts the option of imposing bail conditions, including the use of curfews, along with stronger garda powers to deal with breaches of bail. The Bail Act as it stands contains robust provisions on both dealing with and pre-empting breaches of bail.

The presiding judge is entirely independent in the exercise of their judicial functions, and the decision to grant or refuse bail in a particular case is solely a matter for the court. It must be noted that restriction on a person’s liberty prior to conviction is taken very seriously, given the Constitutional presumption that every person is deemed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

It is, of course, totally unacceptable that offences are committed by people while on bail. That is a direct breach of their undertaking when granted bail by the court.

Where an individual fails to comply with any bail conditions, the judge may issue a bench warrant, mandating An Garda Síochána to arrest and bring the person before the court. Furthermore, a Garda may immediately arrest a person without a warrant where the member has reasonable cause to suspect that person has breached, or is about to breach, a bail condition and the Garda considers the arrest necessary to prevent harm to, interference with, or intimidation of a victim or witness.

I am committed to keeping our bail laws under review and any necessary amendments that are identified will be introduced as appropriate.

It should be noted that the District Court alone deals with approximately 300,000 criminal offences annually

In relation to offence types committed by persons on bail in 2024, the statistics listed below account for 98% of all of the 40,348 incidents. Lower incident counts (or proportions) are not provided to protect the anonymity of victims and in line with standards agreed with AGS's Data Protection Officer and the Central Statistics Office.

Percentage of offence type committed by those on bail 2024

* relates to a person who is in possession of a controlled drug for their own personal use.