Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Just before asking Deputy O'Callaghan to make his concluding remarks, I must stress that the committee members absolutely identify with the motivation behind the work he has done on this Bill. He deserves great credit for that work. We are all very conscious of the fact that countless people have been let down by the failures of either some in the system or by a failure of and by the system. All of that has been reflected very well during today's meeting. I thank our guests for referencing our report on penal reform and sentencing, in which we invested quite a lot of time. The critical element, as pointed out by Ms Ní Chinnéide, is implementation.

I am sure each of us would react to that by stating, "Would that we had the opportunity." Unfortunately, we only have the power of recommendation and cannot direct.