A very welcome intervention - Electronic tags for criminals

THOSE who might oppose measures enabling gardaí or the DPP to apply to a court to have offenders electronically tagged can expect little enough sympathy — even if there is a perception that criminals are far more active than they actually are.

Indeed, the great majority of citizens would probably see tagging as a prerequisite to someone being offered bail. Far too many crimes, including murder, have been committed by people freed on bail. Many would accept this measure if it was mandatory rather than the subject of a court application by gardaí or the DPP.

It would be an effective response to recent figures that showed huge numbers of people who have been banned from driving ignoring that sanction. It might also be considered for prisoners who are being released before their sentence is complete. Wearing a tag until the period in jail handed down by the courts is complete would go some way towards allaying the disquiet caused by the reduction in prison terms once a convict is sent to prison.