Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I take the Minister's point. It is not a good idea generally to increase sentences. In this Bill perhaps there is some argument for doing so because it is in line with the public order legislation. However, in general the Minister is right about this, that we should not send that signal. I would argue for legislation along the lines of that recommended elsewhere, perhaps by the Irish Penal Reform Trust, that there would be some sort of guidance given to judges that imprisonment should always be a last resort.