Electronic Tagging
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-07
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Catherine Ardagh (FF), Dublin South-Central

I thank Deputy Ryan. She makes a great case for the pilot. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is committed to implementing electronic monitoring in line with the commitments set out in the programme for Government.
The electronic monitoring project is progressing and is expected to be operational this year. We are quite far down the road with it.
The Minister is also committed to progressing other commitments in the programme for Government relating to the expanded use of community sanctions that will contribute to reducing prison overcrowding and improving efforts to rehabilitate offenders. Non-custodial penalties, particularly supervised community sanctions, can play a significant role in addressing criminality, reducing reoffending and protecting the public. They also help with the management of prison numbers, providing a more cost-effective criminal justice response to minor offences.
The Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026, which completed Report and Final Stages in the Seanad on 2 July, includes amendments to the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act 1983, aimed at encouraging greater use of community service orders, CSOs. The amendments will allow a court to order up to 480 hours of community service, the current statutory maximum being 240 hours. They will also oblige the courts to consider a CSO in lieu of a prison sentence of up to 24 months' duration, the current statutory threshold being 12 months, and to give reasons where they consider that a CSO should not be imposed in such a case. It should be noted that, at present, the Judiciary is already permitted to consider a CSO in lieu of a custodial sentence of more than 12 months. The amendment will create a statutory obligation on judges to demonstrate that they have considered a CSO as an alternative to sentences of up to 24 months.
In June 2026, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, published a policy review of the Criminal Justice (Community Sanctions) Bill 2014. The purpose of the proposed Bill is to update the Probation of Offenders Act 1907 with modern provisions dealing with community sanctions and the role of the Probation Service in the criminal justice system. The policy review proposes changes to the 2014 Bill's general scheme to reflect more recent developments in Irish penal policy. The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration will now progress work on the revision of the general scheme of the Criminal Justice (Community Sanctions) Bill 2014.
I thank the Senator again for giving me an opportunity to explain the progress on electronic monitoring.

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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