Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The first person we have to think of is the victim. The second is the perpetrator because obviously we want to try to bring about change. I agree that there are often underlying issues. There may be undiagnosed mental health issues when the perpetrator is young or he or she may not have received appropriate treatment for ADHD. We could write the book and we see it in communities. I know people who have gone through the system. They have been in and out of prison and are now fairly well on in life. It is clear that there were problems that were not identified. Sometimes perpetrators are victims of abuse, including sexual abuse, which has never been addressed. I would say Ms McCaffrey comes across a lot of that in the prisons.

We are spending a huge budget and there are huge costs. I accept that rehabilitation is taking place in the prisons and the witnesses have outlined that very well. There is education, assistance for prisoners and all of that. However, we have to get to the point where victims get more than a letter in the post telling them they are in a victims programme and then never hear any more about it. We see cases where people carry out four, five or six burglaries and are sent to prison at a cost of €88,000 per year. Surely victims should get some recompense and perpetrators should engage in a restorative justice programme.