DESPITE reports that Labour and Democratic Left Ministers were wary of radical changes in the bail laws backbenchers from those parties appear to support the idea of reform.
Labour and Democratic Left deputies contacted yesterday by The Irish Times all agreed that something needed to be done to reduce the numbers of crimes committed by people on bail.
Most, however, cautioned against changes which would penalise the innocent and just two, Labour's Mr Joe Costello and Mr Derek McDowell, put forward specific proposals.
Labour deputy Mr Eamonn Walsh, whose Dublin South West [constituency includes a number of high crime areas, said yesterday, he would be supporting changes in the bail laws. "There is no sanction being applied to people who commit crime on bail, the courts are not giving consecutive sentences in these cases. There are [guns on the street in my constituency, but the scales are tipped too much towards the criminal."
He had one qualification that the innocent be protected so that they would not spend a long [period in jail awaiting trial.
Mr Joe Costello (Dublin Central) said changes in the operation of bail would have major implications for the criminal justice system. "It would have a great impact on the principle of an accused being innocent until proven guilty and would also produce a whole new cohort of people in custody, possibly as big as are in prison now.
He said the level of crime committed on bail could be dramatically reduced without such a fundamental change. "If you make consecutive sentences mandatory for those who commit crimes on bail, and turn crime on bail into a separate new offence, you would have a `double whammy' effect."
In 1984, when consecutive sentences were first introduced, the number of crimes on bail dropped from 9,000 down to 2,000 within two years, he said. One or two years ago, judges began giving concurrent sentences again and the figures have climbed, though not to 1984 levels.
Mr Derek McDowell (Dublin North Central) said judges must be given discretion to refuse bail to some defendants who are likely to re offend. He also favoured allowing a judge to refuse bail to someone who had committed a crime on bail in the past. He said he favoured a constitutional amendment which simply stated that it was up to the Oireachtas 16 make regulations on bail.
A Democratic Left spokesman said his party was "conscious of the problem of offences being committed on bail and prepared to see what proposal the Minister brings forward and to consider it on its merits".
"We are wary of zeroing in on bail and misleading people into thinking it is a solution. We acknowledge there is a problem and accept the need for some changes. Whether this should be done just through legislation or through a constitutional amendment is not clear yet, but we need to proceed with caution given that the principle of innocence until guilt is proven is a cornerstone of our judicial system."