Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I wish to share time with Deputy Jim O'Keeffe. I thank Deputy Jim O'Keeffe for bringing this Bill before the House. It is 12 months or more since I put a great deal of work into preparing for a television programme on the issue of sentencing in my constituency. Unfortunately, the individual responsible for the programme decided to opt out and took retirement, and it never was made. In that context, I am very aware that, in parts of Cavan and Monaghan, the sentencing for a long period was unbelievable.

The Minister of State, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, stated that he cannot find anything in this Bill to justify it being brought in and he wants to oppose it. I listened to his argument and it is incredible that the information on this matter could not be put on a database. It is only within this Government that matters to do with computers seem to be impossible.

I am not a computer whizz kid but I deal with companies and organisations which use computers. If one wants to find out the position of a herd register of a farm, for example, all one need do is press a few buttons and one gets the results. One then knows whether an animal has been transferred legally through the system and if it has not, one will soon be rightly told. That means the national herd may be traced daily.

When we changed over from the punt to the euro, the banks were able to make the transition the following morning and to bring up all our accounts on computer in a different currency. It did not matter whether we were in the USA, Germany or elsewhere, if we had money in our account all we had to do was put in a card, press the buttons and we got our money. I find it difficult to believe that this issue is too complicated to put on a database.

I remember speaking on another Bill about which I was extremely passionate, the Fines Bill, which promoted the attachment of fines to income and social welfare payments. We were assured in this House that the Bill was premature and that the matter would be dealt with shortly. Some years later members of the Garda Síochána are driving around collecting fines at a time when they are badly needed in the area of traffic control, to prevent robberies and so on. The collection of fines could easily be done either through the social welfare office or by deducting money from a person's income. Such a system would save Garda time and guarantee that all fines are collected.

The purpose of this Bill is to try to bring about sentencing norms and establish trends in sentencing. There is a need for transparency in the system and for it to be seen to be just. I recall a time when those who were in court knew they would avoid a harsher sentence by paying a fine to a charity. It got to the stage where some of these ruffians asked gardaí for a loan to pay to the charity. That is not a joke, it is a fact. It was not until there was a change of judge that some of these people began to learn manners. There is an absolute need for transparency and assurance that justice will prevail.

As verdicts are not kept on file in a transparent manner, if a person reoffends, he or she can come before another court, as has been the case many times in my area and the Garda does not have any means of ensuring the judge is aware that certain individuals are hardened criminals. That is not the way we should run our justice system. I urge the Minister of State to reconsider the unbelievable comments he made to the effect that what we seek to do is not possible and allow the Bill to go through this House as some small means of trying to improve the justice system.

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