Electronic tagging could increase criminal record rates and could have little impact on recidivism, the international experience indicates.
First established in the US in the 1980s, the system has spread to Canada, Australia, South Africa and parts of Europe. It is now being used in almost every state in the US.
The system being examined by the Irish authorities is that used in Britain. According to the Department of Justice, those who would be eligible for tagging here would have been found guilty of a public order offence in the district court for the first time.
In Britain, however, the system has been mainly used to tag offenders being released early from prison. Some 27,000 people have been tagged in such circumstances, with about 200 tagged as an alternative to prison.
The tag monitors the offender's movements and his/her compliance, typically with night curfews. The movements are tracked through an electronic tag on the offender's body and a monitoring unit in his/her home, which is linked by phone to a central monitoring centre.
According to the British Home Office, the cost benefits are enormous. Imprisoning a person costs a minimum of £24,000 a year, compared to £2,000 a year for tagging. Mr Rick Lines of the Irish Penal Reform Trust said those eligible for tagging here would not be candidates for prison anyway.
"And speaking to the British Prison Reform Trust it is clear that what they are seeing is an increase in the number of people getting sentenced, so that judges can avail of the electronic tagging system."
A report of the system in Canada found "electronic monitoring had no effect on recidivism". It also highlighted a "net-widening effect" in that it increased the number of offenders being caught by a criminal record "net".
"The one potential benefit of electronic monitoring was that it appeared to enhance attendance in treatment. In Newfoundland offenders who were on electronic monitoring were more likely to stay in treatment than probationers without an electronic monitoring condition."
This experience is mirrored in Sweden, where recidivism rates among the tagged are very low and it is estimated the system has reduced the prison population by 10 per cent with a forecast reduction of a third. However, Mr Lines said this had been achieved with an enormous input from the Swedish probation service.
A Department spokesman said the experience of other countries was being examined.
