Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)

Yes. I apologise, as I was in another committee and did not make it here in time.

By and large, the proposals are very good. I agree that bail supervision should be extended nationwide. I am conscious that an awful lot of the proposals being made are going to put a huge emphasis on the Probation Service. While we increased the funding for the Probation Service this year, in light of all of these changes and what will be expected of it in the future, we need to continue to invest in the Probation Service and, in particular, youth diversion programmes. I see it myself in County Louth. Very often, the programmes are living from hand to mouth year on year to see if we are going to get funding for the following year. We had an issue with the drug court recently, which has now been resolved. There are very positive outcomes from this.

That said, I am very interested in hearing about raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility. I read the opening statements, but I am of the opinion that it should stay where it is. If we have the appropriate services in place and we put forward the appropriate defences - I am very conscious at the moment that we are dealing with human trafficking, in particular of children - these cases can always be dealt with on a case-by-case basis when they appear before the courts.

I will start with Mr. Egan and then move on to the other witnesses. I understand that we are perhaps talking about the psychological effect on the child, the level of maturity and everything else, but would it not be better to keep it at ten and 12? Someone is definitely going to quote the point about hard cases making bad law. I am aware of that, but I am also conscious that we should have a mechanism in place if and when it arises. It tends to arise rarely, but more frequently these days.