Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

It has been a very long day and there were unusual occurrences in the House. Perhaps that is the reason we had to listen to some pretty peculiar contributions from some Deputies. We heard a Deputy say they think legal aid is okay and that they do not have a problem with it but that it is very annoying when people keep using it. They then tried to blame the problems of the legal aid system on those who have the misfortune to be before the courts on multiple occasions. There is no doubt that is annoying but it is much more than that. The idea of penalising people and asking them, as the Deputy put forward, to pay for the legal aid themselves is ridiculous when a huge number of those people come from a background where they would not have the means to pay for it. The issue should be why people are in a process where they repeatedly offend and whether we can do something and put in place measures which avoid that happening. That would be good for the victims of crime and for society. The reality is, and the statistics show, that the majority of those who appear before the courts and end up behind bars come from backgrounds where there is a certain hopelessness, a lack of economic progress, a lack of investment and so on. Encouragement in education and investment in communities is far better for society in the long term.

The concept of restorative justice is a fundamental and important one. It could be summarised as trying to get people to take responsibility for their actions. When people take responsibility, they understand better the consequences of the action and they are likely to modify their behaviour accordingly. I note that all research would say the process should be voluntary and that it always should be. I can appreciate that on one level but I can imagine many situations where it would not be the inclination of the perpetrator of the crime to engage in that process and simply having it on a voluntary basis might not be enough. We need to be proactive in encouraging people to participate in this route because if they see the damage of their crimes, they are less likely to offend because most people are decent, and that is an important principle.

I got an e-mail this afternoon from a person on a matter not linked necessarily to this issue. I want to refer to some of what it states because the woman called the subject matter of the e-mail "Victim of a Crime". She started off by telling me her name. She stated that four years ago in February 2010 she was stabbed outside a primary school in Tralee in Kerry. She also stated that she brought this to the attention of the Garda but nothing was done. She further stated that two years later in February 2012 the same guy attacked her again, this time outside her house and caused injury to her face, and once again the Garda failed to pursue it and continued to fail to do anything about it. She stated that he was supposed to go to court but nothing was done to date. She also stated that she has no confidence in the Garda. She further stated that she cannot go anywhere as she does not feel safe, as this guy may come back and attack her again or, worse, attack her family, as the same guy threatened her youngest son. She stated that she would appreciate if I would bring this matter to the attention of the Dáil.

What does a victim like that want? The woman wants a right to live in her community. She wants the right to know that the person who was guilty of the crimes against her is being dealt with and, critically she does not want to feel endangered any more. The question for us is how that will be achieved. The first thing is that the crimes must be investigated. That is critical. Sadly, myself, Deputy Wallace and Deputy Joan Collins, in particular, have met multiple people over the past period who are the victims of injustice but who have had that injustice compounded by the fact that the justice system, as it currently stands, failed them. Their cases were not investigated. Sometimes they were just tragic instances that life throws up in people's past where they become a victim for no real reason. They just end up in that situation because of accidental factors, but what happens next compounds that and they cannot get closure. The issue of restorative justice is attempting to deal with some of those questions.

I have a problem with the idea of financial compensation. We discussed it during the passage of the fines legislation when the Minister, Deputy Shatter, put forward fines as an alternative to a penal sentence. I am completely opposed to penal sentences in general for most crimes but fines in many instances are ridiculous and community service is a better alternative. We need to take into account people's ability to pay. For example, most crime is committed by people who do not have money. If a junkie breaks into one's house to get money to buy drugs, they are not going to have the money to pay one back if they do that damage. Investing in getting that person off drugs is probably a more sustainable solution. I am really in favour of the idea of people meeting those against whom they carried out a crime. An apology can often mean the closure a person needs. Just being face to face and to have the other person understand the consequences of their actions is hugely important. We need to move away from the idea of penal sentences and to take a much more holistic approach where the victim's interests and the person who carries out the crime are taken into account so there is less re-offending.

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