There have been almost 17,000 convictions for burglary recorded in Galway over the past four and half years – but it has done little to stop the offenders, Galway West TD Noel Grealish has claimed.
The Independent TD said that the next Government must seriously tackle the issue of crime and the justice system in Ireland to prevent serial offenders committing crime after crime with little consequences.
And it must also take a serious look at the €76m a year bill for free legal aid – much of it being spent on the defence of career criminals – as well as the number of offences committed by people out on bail, and the increasing number of offenders simply ignoring and not paying fines imposed by the courts, he said.
“Burglary is just one area where criminals are laughing in the face of the law. Since the start of this decade, we have had 1,644 burglary convictions in the courts for crimes committed in the Galway Garda Division. That’s almost exactly one every single day of the year over the past four and a half years.
“A further 35 aggravated burglaries were the subject of court convictions in Galway at the same time, six of them in the first half of this year – these are incidents where terror has been inflicted on the victims by people wielding guns or knives or other weapons in the course of a burglary
“But these are only the people who are caught. It’s the tip of the iceberg, as it’s very difficult for Gardaí to get sufficient evidence to bring a case to court, even though they often have a very good idea who the culprits are. The rate of reoffending is huge among burglars, according to figures I have received.
“And when they do end up in court, they get the best of free legal representation, even if they have a hundred previous convictions, through free legal aid. I have called several times for these costs to be deducted from social welfare payments, or wages if they are working – the Irish taxpayer is now paying €76m a year and rising to foot this bill, it’s time that repeat offenders paid it back.”
Deputy Grealish said he took the incidence of burglary as an example, but the failings of the justice system extended to a whole range of crimes.
“Figures I secured from the CSO show that criminals who are out on bail are committing more than 32,000 crimes a year, a number that has increased by more than 40% in the past decade – these are offences ranging from theft and drugs offences to sexual crimes and murder.
“Even prison doesn’t appear to put a stop to these people’s lifetime habits – three out of five offenders released from custodial sentences are soon back re-offending, most of them within the first year.
“And to cap it all, the Courts Service has supplied me with shocking information that up to three-quarters of the fines imposed by the courts in Ireland are going unpaid. Last year, more than €15m of the €20m-plus in fines imposed was not paid.”
Deputy Grealish said that many people he had met while out canvassing in various areas of Galway had expressed their exasperation with a justice system that did not seem to deter criminals.
“As I have said so many times, these people are just laughing in the face of our justice system, they know that even if they are caught, they’ll likely get a fine that they can just ignore, and if sent to jail they are back out in no time because of overcrowding in our prisons. This can’t be allowed to continue,” he added.
