Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I am delighted to see Senator Morrissey in the Visitors Gallery. No doubt he is taking a deep interest in this Bill, which is very similar to his.

Burglary has reached epidemic levels in Ireland, with an average of 3.5 such robberies an hour. A property is burgled almost every 15 minutes in this country. Every year, 30,000 properties, nearly 21,000 of which are homes, are raided, often while their owners sleep. Some householders have been murdered for their possessions, women have been raped and children have been terrified beyond reason, leaving them psychologically scarred for life, suffering from interrupted sleep and nightmares and always wondering whether there is an intruder in their homes. The trauma of a burglary continues for life, as Deputy Kenny said.

Between September 2003 and September 2005, 50,000 house owners and business people reported a burglary to gardaí. In 2003 alone, more than 16,000 residential raids were reported, but the real number of burglaries from homes is a third higher, since data from the Central Statistics Office reveal that fewer than 70% of people will report a break-in. The main problem with our statistics is that people simply do not report break-ins, and they should be encouraged to do so, allowing us to get the statistics right. No matter what is taken from their house, it should be reported.

Every day in this country, almost 60 home owners will experience the horror of an intruder in their homes. If householders fight back using any means possible, they leave themselves open to prosecution and jail sentences. We know that approximately €59 million was stolen from homes between June 2004 and June 2005. As I said, under present law, if householders fight back, they can be prosecuted and jailed. A garda told me two weeks ago that an intruder had complained to the local officer that he had been assaulted by someone protecting his house.

We have heard of horrific cases over the years, for example, that of the farmer Patrick Skehan, who was found hanging upside down in his home at Killaloe in County Clare in 1998. He was confronted by four intruders, beaten about the head, stripped to his shirt and pants and left hanging. He died a few weeks later in hospital. That is the type of burglary we are talking about.

The Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 allows someone to use reasonable force to defend his or her home, but it is often left to juries to decide whether an individual used undue force or stepped over the line when dealing with an intruder. In a very good paper, Homicide and the Plea of Self-Defence, Mr. Pádraig Dwyer stated that the Irish law of self-defence needed review for the following reasons. It requires a jury to engage in a complicated reasoning process to determine whether an accused acted in self-defence. In so far as it provides for a manslaughter verdict in respect of an accused who acts honestly although unreasonably, it is out-dated in the light of developments in the doctrine of mens rea.

This legislation, similar to that which the Minister has drafted for his colleague, Senator Morrissey, at least affords the householder protection, which is what people want. I commend the Bill to the House and compliment Deputy Jim O'Keeffe on its introduction. It provides an excellent solution to an issue very much taken to heart by rural and urban Ireland.

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