Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

——and was forgotten about straight away. If that suggestion had been introduced to force the prosecution to prove a person's use of force was unreasonable, it would have been a charter for finishing off the punter who is coming up one's driveway because he would be the only person who could give evidence against you. It was a hare-brained, crackpot idea and I am glad Fine Gael has forgotten about it and its inaction is typical, unfortunately.

I welcome the amendments proposed by the Minister. I welcome the gun amnesty and I congratulate my colleague, Deputy Curran, who made representations to the Minister on this issue over a number of months. I also welcome the drug offenders' register, the extension of offences regarding membership and association with criminal gangs.

I add my voice of concern to that of Deputy Penrose on the subject of mandatory sentencing. Many speakers have spoken in favour of the measure without realising the effect it would have. I have been unable to identify any data on this issue but I admit I am not perfect at research. I could not find any data to show that mandatory sentencing is an effective deterrent. Currently a trial judge can decide whether a guilty plea should result in a reduction in a sentence, whether there is some hope of rehabilitation of the offender, or whether the offender has gone to some lengths to remedy the situation. He can use all those issues in mitigation. The trial judge may also consider circumstances that may aggravate the sentence and cause it to be increased. Deputy Penrose is correct in stating that no two cases are the same. I would be very reluctant to propose mandatory sentencing.

The Law Reform Commission reported ten years' ago that it would be a retrograde step. Information on the effect of sentencing is required, such as information on the effect of a custodial sentence on the rehabilitation of an offender, the rate of recidivism and whether mandatory sentencing serves as a deterrent. I doubt if the criminal gangs will watch "Oireachtas Report" tonight and say, "I had better hand up my guns because they are making mandatory sentencing a bit tougher".

The purpose of sentencing has many dimensions such as punishment and public safety but mandatory sentencing seems to be directed towards a view that the trial judges are failing in their work. I do not share that view. If it was the case that they were failing in their work with regard to drug trafficking, it would be logical to presume they were failing in their duty in other areas of equal public importance and concern. Why therefore would mandatory sentencing not be extended to other areas of the law? Why not introduce it for crimes such as car hijacking because of the reckless driving which causes so many road deaths? Why is it not used in the case of abuse of public office by a politician, a garda or a planning official if we abhor what is going on? The reason is that we are not in knee-jerk reaction mode with respect to these issues. It is dangerous to react in this manner.

The deferral of sentence in the District Court following a fine is a good proposal. The purpose of this provision is to encourage an offender not to re-offend and to monitor behaviour over a period which is what the probation service is supposed to do. We need to go further again and examine the question of rehabilitation. I have raised this issue with the Minister on a number of occasions. It is necessary to consider whether a convicted offender who has shown good behaviour should be able to expunge his or her criminal record. This proposal would be limited to shorter custodial sentences with a period of good behaviour being correspondingly shorter. This would not apply to later court proceedings. The offence could be raised in a court. It would not apply to cases relating to visas but would apply to matters of employment and insurance. We are fooling ourselves if we think sentencing and punishment are the only elements of criminal justice. We must actively consider the question of what is happening to those being released from prisons and what we will do to encourage them not to re-offend. If one tenth of the time we spend discussing punishment and retribution, and all the issues Members raise in the House about people not being safe in their homes or cowering behind their curtains, was spent considering what we will do with offenders following their release, we would go a long way towards making society safer.

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