Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)

I welcome the Bill which seeks to establish a register of sentences and promote greater consistency and transparency in the sentencing process. Consistency is a key issue. Inconsistencies in sentences have frequently been highlighted in the media with different outcomes for cases with similar characteristics. I recall a request from Limerick County Council in a situation where two people received sentences for manslaughter for three and five years, respectively, which is an example we should examine.

We see many instances where there appear to be inconsistencies in respect of the type of sentence applied by judges, whether in the District Court, Circuit Court or High Court. That aspect of the judicial system is in need of reform and the need for consistency in sentencing must be addressed, especially for minor offences at District Court level. The result of cases in the District Court often depends on the mood of the judge, with particular sentences being handed out in the morning while people are afraid to go into court in the afternoon. These cases involve the type of inconsistencies we must address.

Such minor cases often merit very harsh sentences from some judges while the same offences merit relatively lenient sentences from other judges. I know of cases where a judge will destroy a person for driving at speed, another judge will jail a person for drink driving and another will jail a person for avoiding tax. There are major differences which must be addressed.

The practice of imprisoning fine defaulters should be discontinued, with greater use being made of attachment of earnings or community service in response to defaulting. A judge in my constituency threatened to ask a defendant to stand in a local town with a note hanging from him stating he had committed a certain offence. The objective of that threat was that the defendant would not commit crime again. If that type of situation were considered, we would have less crime.

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