Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

I will move on to that. It is insulting to think people equate the two offences. There is a chasm in the laws protecting children from sexual predators.

I do not have many difficulties with the principle of the existence of a database. Not only would it be in the public interest, it would be helpful for those who must impose sentences to know the norms. There is no doubt that people convicted of serious offences are held in the prison system, which serves to protect the public against them.

However, only recently the Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention branded the Irish prison system a failure. He stated the training and educational programmes for young offenders in St. Patrick's Institution have been closed and now there are none. I have no problem with people who commit crimes being punished but I question the value of putting young offenders in an institution where there is no possibility of rehabilitation. Not only is it bad for the offender but it offers no protection to the public in the longer term. There is clearly a need not just to register the sentences and make comparisons between them but to consider how crime and our prison population can be reduced in tandem. I presume the register will consider the impact of community service and other types of sanction. The object should be to make the country a safer place to live and there are many ways that can be achieved.

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