Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I join with other speakers in welcoming this Bill. As with everything that Deputy O'Callaghan does, it is clear that a mammoth amount of work has been put into it. I am also in concert with other speakers because I am not as familiar as I probably should be with some aspects of the Bill. We will get to that stage, but at this early point we need to discuss the broader themes. While Deputy Clare Daly had some specific questions on that, one can already see some of the broader themes emerging, which show why such legislation is necessary. The themes include the prison system itself, how we treat prisoners, and how people deal with the system, be it through restorative justice or other mechanisms. It is an important piece of work and from our perspective it will be good to hear further from Deputy O'Callaghan. We should also discuss how we can start to get some movement on this Bill and put more meat on the bone.