The Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has announced that new bail laws are on the way.

Ms Fitzgerald says she will be seeking Cabinet approval for the new measures within the next month.

She says she is also considering a new Criminal Justice Inspectorate.

This would incorporate the Garda Inspectorate, Inspector of Prisons and agencies such as the Probation Service.

"Each of the agencies such as the gardaí, the Prison Service and the Probation Services have to work together if we are to succeed," she says.

Ms Fitzgerald says both the Garda Inspectorate and the Inspector of Prisons are doing an excellent job - but there is no joined up approach to reduce re-offending.

She says the Inspectorate in Northern Ireland provides a model that might be followed, and says here it would:

carry out inspections and make recommendations concerning the efficiency and effectiveness of individual agencies

carry out thematic inspections and make recommendations concerning the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice system as a whole including the interaction between the different agencies

carry out inspections of places of detention and make recommendations concerning safeguarding the rights of detained persons and protecting against abuse

But Minister Fitzgerald is initiating a consultative process before making a final decision.

At the Fine Gael national conference in Castlebar, she also announced a 'crackdown on crime'.

"The enemy is crime. The enemy of every family, every neighbourhood, every business - is crime. And crime is like an opportunistic virus. It shifts. It morphs. It provides new and different threats every year," Ms Fitzgerald said.

She announced consideration is being given to consecutive sentences for repeat offenders for burglary.