Electronic Tagging Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-07 ============================================================ Dee Ryan (FF), Nominated by the Taoiseach I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ardagh, to the Chamber. I believe this is my first time addressing her since she got her new role. I congratulate her. We look forward to working with her over her term. I have no doubt she will do great things in her new role. I thank the Minister of State for the opportunity to raise this important Commencement matter and for coming in to take it. I seek an update on electronic monitoring. What progress had been made? We have a commitment to it in the programme for Government. The Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, is personally very committed to delivering it. Public safety and security in people's homes is a live issue for us in Limerick. I am on the doors every week in different parts of the constituency. The issue of personal safety, the safety of people's property in their homes and safety in their cars comes up repeatedly throughout the constituency. Likewise when I meet the business community, as I do regularly, the issue of shoplifting and the crippling cost to retailers already much challenged in our city centre comes up again and again. The Garda works very well with private individuals and businesses in trying to tackle these issues but I see the potential for a great role for electronic monitoring in supporting the work the Garda does in those areas. I am eager to get an update from the Minister of State because of its potential for enhancing public safety. Limerick and, indeed, all communities across the country deserve every available tool that can help to protect people, strengthen their confidence in the justice system and ensure court-imposed bail conditions can be properly enforced. Electronic minoring will be a tool for the Judiciary when considering who among those before it may be suitable for bail and will also give us reassurance of greater safeguards for the public. The tragic death occurred in Limerick in 2023 of University of Limerick student Joe Drennan, originally from Laois, who was standing at a bus stop in Castletroy after finishing his shift working in a nearby restaurant. He was mowed down and killed by a driver who was out on bail. While I understand and appreciate that electronic monitoring or no other single measure can prevent a tragedy such as this, the public is entitled to expect that every reasonable safeguard is in place to monitor compliance and reduce risk. There are also many cases where a prison sentence is neither necessary nor appropriate. However, where individuals might be granted bail or offered temporary release, protecting the public has to remain the overriding priority. Electronic monitoring can help us to strike that balance while allowing suitable individuals to remain in the community but providing greater confidence that they are complying with the conditions imposed by the courts. Limerick is particularly well placed to host any pilot or trial of electronic monitoring. I call for that to be done. We have a strong track record in our city not only in tackling crime, supporting victims and improving community safety but also within the Garda in rolling out trials. We recently finished a community access support team, CAST, partnership pilot between the Garda and the HSE mental health unit. We finished a trial on body-worn cameras and are due to start one on tasers. Limerick would be particularly well placed to put in place an effective trial and to do the monitoring and reporting that would be necessary to help inform any future decisions on where electronic monitoring may be suitable. I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's response. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-07/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-07