James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. The Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, and I believe in the victim-first approach to all of our strategies and policies, and in ensuring the victim is at the centre of everything we do. I agree with Deputy Kenny that restorative justice is something we need to develop further. It is a priority for the Department. We are trying for it to become a natural part of our youth diversion projects. It does not need a specific policy; we are aiming for it to eventually become part of what we do. Obviously, the victim has to be a willing participant in restorative justice, which is absolutely critical. Where we have the offender understanding and confronting the nature of the damage they are doing, it can be the most powerful influence on the offender to ensure he or she does not repeat. Often, some offenders just do not comprehend or understand the consequences of what they are doing or what they have done, or they may feel that what they have done is simply a normal part of life. It is about them understanding it is not normal to do that. I am a great believer in restorative justice. I attended an international conference on it last year. I see that it is very much used in a lot of countries in Scandinavia and in eastern Europe. I would like to see a lot more use of restorative justice. All of the participants must be willing to participate in it. It can be very powerful experience to see what restorative justice at work. It can even work in very serious crimes. It is critical that the three elements of restorative justice are all there: community, victim and offender, and in particular that the victim is there. I have spoken on this issue with Dr. Sean Redmond in the University of Limerick about how to develop protocols around restorative justice. It is something that we understand conceptually but in practice it can mean different things to different people and how they apply it. It can be applied differently in different countries. I certainly hear Deputy Kenny on that one.