Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Deputy Halligan on publishing this Bill and welcome the discussion on restorative justice last night and tonight. I am pretty familiar with this area as a former Sinn Féin spokesperson on justice in this Chamber. Prior to that I had a keen interest in it as a process used quite extensively in the Six Counties, particularly at community level.

Deputies MacLochlainn and McLellan outlined some of our concerns about some aspects of the Bill but overall we support its progress to Committee Stage as we would see great merit in developing it. That would give Government and Opposition Members an opportunity to put down amendments that would strengthen the Bill. Restorative justice is recognised in 100 countries. There are various models of restorative justice. In Canada there are 12 distinct models. It is not appropriate in all cases, for instance, cases of domestic violence, murder or aggravated burglary. It has advantages, some of which Deputy McLellan outlined. It does not always involve the repatriation of damages, as set out in Deputy Halligan’s Bill by way of attachment orders. I have some concerns about that. Deputy McLellan touched on them. There is a danger that, where an attachment order is put in place as part of a restorative justice model or process, those who have no connection with a crime, a spouse or children, for example, somebody on a low income or social welfare, could be penalised too. That would go against the spirit of restorative justice.

Restorative justice has benefits for the victim, offender and the wider community and we should consider it. The Department of Justice and Equality is considering publishing its own Bill. The Minister of State might confirm that when she wraps up the debate tonight. In his responses to some parliamentary questions I have tabled on restorative justice, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, is open to developing it.

Community restorative justice offers great benefits. It can be achieved through statutory organisations or community groups. In some countries it is even used within schools. People grow up with the principles and values of a restorative justice process and transfer it from school to adult or criminal settings. There is a great deal of research on those countries.

In other countries, such as Brazil, restorative justice programmes are aimed at adults. All of these points can be debated on Committee Stage and we will support the Bill’s passage to that Stage.

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