In the past ten years just over 250,000 crimes have been committed by people while out on bail. The total is 250,149 to be exact. The people in question include murderers, rapists, robbers and burglars who have wreaked havoc and brought terror to our society. Between 2006 and 2015 people out on bail were responsible for 89 murders, 237 serious sexual offences, including rape, 50,000 thefts, the same number of public order offences and 18,000 burglaries. It gets worse. Figures from the CSO show that last year alone, almost 26,000 crimes were committed by people out on bail, a disturbing increase of 11% on the figure for the previous year. It is equivalent to 500 crimes per week being carried out by people who have already been charged with a criminal offence, in respect of which they are awaiting their day in court. They were apprehended by the Garda, charged and then released while a file was being sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. A file could be with the Director of Public Prosecutions for months. In the meantime, the people in question are reoffending. It is very frustrating for gardaí and exceptionally upsetting for the victims of crime who see the criminal walking down the street and feel intimidated and fearful as a result. It is time the bail laws were radically reformed. It is time the people in question were immediately put behind bars. Is this being deliberately permitted because we do not have the space in prisons to put these vicious criminals away? I am not talking about people who carry out petty crimes but about murderers, rapists and vicious attackers. They should be held on remand while their files are being considered by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

I have received from the latest CSO figures for the first quarter of 2016. They paint an equally depressing picture, with a total of 6,049 crimes being committed where the suspected offender was out on bail for other offences. Meanwhile, these are the people who are enjoying free legal aid at taxpayers' expense, even in the most cut and dried cases. The people want to know when this ridiculous state of affairs will be brought to an end. They want to know when we can expect to have realistic laws which will threaten severe penalties for those who reoffend while out on bail. I am aware of the Bail Bill which is included in the legislative programme and in respect of which the justice committee finalised its pre-legislative scrutiny report on 11 November 2015. Will the Taoiseach give a commitment to the people who are the victims of serious and vicious crimes that he will take these vicious criminals off the streets, hold them on remand and not allow them back onto the streets to terrorise and reoffend?

I thank the Deputy for his comments and question. A moratorium on Garda recruitment was introduced in 2009. It has now been lifted and 1,200 gardaí have been recruited. The programme for Government commits to bringing Garda numbers to 15,000, which is important. The Government wants gardaí to be mobile and visible and have the facilities they need to do their job. More than €34 million has been invested in new vehicles, including motorbikes and patrol cars, a massive increase on the €4.8 million provided previously. I have spoken to senior Garda personnel, including the Commissioner, and the Minister for Justice and Equality on a number of occasions and they made the point that they were well aware of specific gangs carrying out specific burglaries and travelling to various parts of the country to do so. That is why Operation Thor was put into effect. It meant extra high-visibility patrols, the increased use of checkpoints, the use of high-powered vehicles for regional activities, programmes to reduce the level of offending by prolific offenders, a high-profile national prevention awareness scheme and enhanced support for victims. The Deputy will be aware from the many localities with which he deals that an additional almost €400,000 has been provided this year for the community alert and Crimestoppers programmes. They have developed as an important crime prevention mechanism, with more than 700 local groups and involving in excess of 130,000 subscribers. An estimated 200,000 text messages are sent each month to povide community information on possible criminal activity in different areas.

Every Garda station, rural and urban, now offers a text alert service, and the Garda Síochána published guidelines to assist the establishment of local groups.

I want Deputy Grealish to understand that the Government believes that serious and serial offenders should be imprisoned. They should be imprisoned. That is why the Tánaiste has asked the Attorney General to work on this legislation during the summer break to deal with a bail Bill. That will allow for refusal of bail in respect of repeat offenders, strengthen Garda powers to deal with breaches of bail and allow for the use of electronic tagging for those on bail where requested by gardaí or the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP. The changes that have been made in terms of investment in Garda facilities and the changes that are coming in terms of the legislation, where repeat offenders can be refused bail, Garda powers are enhanced and, if necessary, electronic tagging will be introduced, are also an important deterrent in dealing with a system that has been out of hand in locations throughout the country. I am glad that Operation Thor is bringing that to heel, as it were.

I am not questioning the Garda. What is happening with the bail laws is frustrating for the force. I do not doubt the Government's good intentions regarding reform of these laws. However, Government legislative programmes stretching back to when the Taoiseach took office in 2011 contained a commitment on introducing a bail Bill. Such a Bill has never been laid before the House and we are in 2016 without any having been enacted. I hope the current commitments prove more successful.

There is a serious situation with criminals who have zero regard for the law. Something must be done quickly. According to a recent study, almost half of prisoners released from jail in Ireland go on to re-offend within three years, and the majority within one year. In the case of burglary, the rate is even greater at 70%. The guts of 100 crimes are being committed daily by people who are out on bail, obviously having calculated that the penalties for a second offence will be no greater than for the original. They are laughing in the face of our criminal justice system.

Does the Taoiseach not agree that our bail laws have failed people? In the past ten years, people on bail have been responsible for 89 murders, 237 serious sexual offences, 50,000 thefts and more than 18,000 burglaries. Does the Taoiseach agree that the current bail laws have failed the victims of crime?

Yes, I agree that the current bail laws need to be changed, and that is why the Tánaiste has asked the Attorney General to work on the bail laws over the summer period. That will involve those three things: the refusal of bail, the enhanced powers for the Garda where breaches take place, and electronic tagging, if necessary. I would make the point as well that we should commend the members of the Garda, with the increased facilities they have, on the arrests they make, the burglaries they prevent and the gangs they take out of business. I note in the local newspapers that a gang reputed to have carried out in excess of 100 burglaries, or people associated with it, have been arrested, probably to be brought before the courts.

I think that Operation Thor has been an undoubted success and will continue to be so, and that came about because of specific requests and information that gardaí had about particular gangs that were carrying out multiple burglaries. If one looks at the statistics in many locations in the country, because of the community alert scheme and the increased capacity of gardaí to be around and be mobile and visible, many of the different sectors of crime have fallen off, so to speak. There are still too many, and one is one too many. Bail laws that are changed will add to the opportunity for gardaí and the courts to do their duty in respect of burglaries. The Deputy is right to raise the point.

That concludes Leaders' Questions which today has run significantly over time. Standing Orders provide for additional time for Leaders' Questions, but there is not much point in us fixing times and allocating additional time if time above and beyond that is also going to be taken by people. I would ask for Deputies' co-operation.