Bail Bill will help to prevent crime – Durkan

Fine Gael TD for Kildare North, Bernard J Durkan, has today (Thursday) welcomed the approval of heads and general scheme of the new Bail Bill by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Ms Frances Fitzgerald TD in conjunction with Cabinet. Deputy Durkan has campaigned for changes to our bail laws for many years.

“The publication of the Bail Bill 2015 is a welcome response by the Minister for Justice and Equality to the obvious concerns of the victims of crime. The extent to which criminals can currently expect to obtain bail in various circumstances could ultimately pose a serious threat to the public

“We must ensure that our bail laws are in accord with the Constitution and European Court of Justice, but it has become obvious over a number of years that those accused of serious criminal offences have been able to avail of the bail laws to a considerable extent, very often leading to the committal of further and even more serious crimes.

“Thousands of serious crimes have been committed by people while on bail, in some cases consecutive bail and to such an extent that the general public were beginning to lose confidence in the ability of the system to protect the general public from criminal activity.

“Notwithstanding the influence of the European Court of Justice, bail is not as readily available in a number of other jurisdictions as has become the practice here and it is to be hoped that the proposals contained in this new legislation will further protect the general public from criminals.

“I congratulate the Minister and the Government for the introduction of the Bill and I look forward to working on it as it makes its way through the Dáil.”

ENDS