McDowell to introduce Bill to allow electronic tagging

The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, is to seek Cabinet approval shortly for the introduction of electronic tagging for offenders as an alternative to custodial sentences.

Senior officials at the Department of Justice have been in contact with their counterparts in the British Home Office in recent months and have been briefed on the use of tagging in the UK.

Officials here have begun to draft new legislation which would provide for tagging and it is expected to be framed before Easter at the latest. It will clearly define the category of offender who can be tagged - while this has not been finalised, it may first be tried on those found guilty of public order offences and those convicted by the courts for the first time.

Mr McDowell has previously indicated it may be time to examine tagging but has stopped short of confirming that he would introduce it. However, a Department of Justice spokeswoman last night confirmed the issue was now well advanced.

When the necessary legislation is framed, Mr McDowell will bring it before the Cabinet. The legislation would then be introduced in the form of an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill, either at the committee stage or the report stage. The bill is due before the Dáil again before the end of next month.

It is understood tagging systems would be provided and operated here by the private sector, as is the case in Britain. However, State agencies, such as the probation services, would respond if criminals broke the conditions of their tagging.

Last May, Mr McDowell told the annual conference of the Prison Officers Association that if a first-time offender received a custodial sentence for, for example, being drunk and disorderly, this could have "life-changing" implications. Tagging might lessen the impact on the offender while allowing the authorities to monitor any conditions attached by the courts, such as curfews.

Mr McDowell has warned that prisons are "silting up" with greater numbers of inmates serving life, more remand prisoners and more non-nationals, many of whom are held on immigration matters. People born outside Ireland accounted for one-quarter of all prison committals in 2003.

There are plans to increase the prison capacity by 1,200, to almost 4,500, by building a new Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, a new facility in Cork and by extending Portlaoise Prison in Co Laois and Cloverhill Prison in Dublin.

However, none of these additional places will be available for at least three years, meaning tagging may be needed if a "revolving door" system is to be avoided.