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A ‘SHOCKING’ RISE in the number of crimes committed last year by suspects who were on bail has prompted calls for a review of laws around bail release.
Sinn Féin TD and Spokesperson for Justice Matt Carthy received a response to his Parliamentary Question (PQ) submitted to Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan where he demanded action be taken over “serious” crimes committed in 2024 by individuals previously implicated in crimes.
“These figures released to me in a Parliamentary Question response are shocking,” Deputy Carthy said.
“This PQ reply from the Minister outlining the number of crimes committed in the last three years where the suspect was on bail points to an urgency to deal with this matter.”
The figures in question were obtained from the Department of Justice via An Garda Síochána and indicate that 40,348 suspected crimes were carried out last year by people who were out on bail, a rise of 5,000 since 2022.
They show that one quarter of the most common crimes committed by offenders on bail were public order-related, followed by shoplifting at 23% and drug possession at 6%.
The Cavan/Monaghan TD continued: “But some have been very serious, including those which have resulted in the loss of life. We need to get this right.
“The public will not tolerate a situation where dangerous criminals are repeatedly released on bail to commit further crimes.”
Among the figures released by Minister O’Callaghan was confirmation of a total of 114,655 crimes committed over the past three years by suspects previously implicated in crime.
Referring to the issue as a “matter of urgency”, Deputy Carthy pleaded with the Minister to conduct a review of the current laws around prison bail release.
“If the bail laws are not working, as these figures suggest, then the Minister must act. If we are to deliver safe communities and reduce the level of crime, we cannot accept a situation where this level of crime is being carried out by those on bail.”
The region where crimes by bailed suspects were most numerous was Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR), North Central which saw an increase of almost 2,000 from 7,385 crimes in 2022 to 9,340 in 2024.
In second place over the same period was DMR South Central which experienced 4,514 crimes in 2024, a slight increase of 376 over the two years.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald pressed the Taoiseach on the issue during a Dáil debate today, and he defended the current state of the bail system.
“There are limits to what can be done,” the Taoiseach said before claiming Minister O’Callaghan is “looking at” changing bail regulations.
He added: “We are very intolerant of people committing crime while out on bail but you cannot have a system where everybody who is a suspect gets locked up,” to which Deputy McDonald replied: “The figures do not tell that story.”
Figures published by the Central Statistics Office show overall instances of theft and related offences increased between 2023 and 2024, while sexual offences fell over the same period.
Theft and robbery also saw increases on the year before, with extortion and hijacking seeing a 26% increase in the final quarter of 2024 alone.
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