Damien English (Meath, Fine Gael)

It depends on what the sentence is for. We will not bring sport into the discussion.

There should be standards that are easy to follow. Victims need to know if justice is being done. The victim of a crime should be able to tap into the system and see the sentences other perpetrators of similar crimes received, so as to determine the norm. The Bill provides for a tool, a register. It represents a chance to order information in a way that is easy to follow. It will enable us to monitor trends and learn from them.

The process of sentencing must be accelerated. Concurrent sentences were discussed earlier. If a person is in prison for a certain offence other charges against him or her should be dealt with during that time, so that when a person completes one sentence they can continue on another. At the moment young people leave prison after a sentence and undergo a rehabilitation programme. They are retrained and placed in work with, for example, the linkage programme. Then they are summoned back to court to face another charge relating to a crime committed some years before, which puts the offender back to square one. All the sentences should be dealt with at once so that only one period of retraining is necessary.

Another area to be considered relates to drugs crimes and the minimum sentence of ten years for dealing in drugs worth more than a certain amount of money. Either it is a mandatory sentence or it is not. Most offenders do not receive ten years but are given two or three. There is no point in our passing legislation if it is not implemented. If ten years is too high a sentence for a drug dealer dealing in drugs worth more than €10,000 we should be told, so that we can change the minimum to five years. Without a register to highlight what is happening we will not be able to make the necessary changes. Such a situation leaves people questioning what we do and how we do it. They believe the system is failing them. After today's events, I do not wonder. Convincing the public that the justice system works properly is a major challenge. This Bill is a small step in the right direction toward tidying up the system. I urge the Government to vote for the Bill and I ask any Deputy who decides not to do so to explain clearly what they find wrong with it. I do not say that just because it is an Opposition Bill.

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