Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I will be brief. I do not think that speech is an aggravation or necessary. When imposing sentence, a judge should have obtained from the Garda the effects on the victim, the antecedents on the accused and he should have the facts of the case fairly clearly in his or her mind. A judge does not need speeches to remind him or her of that. We do not have to go down the road where people are demanding this or that penalty, but we need a common understanding by the Judiciary of principles that should apply to the sentence.

Nearly 20 years ago, I was a barrister in The People (DPP) v. Tiernan, which dealt with the reduction in a 21 year sentence for rape. From memory, I think it was reduced to 16 or 17 years. In that case, the Supreme Court stated that rape was such an offence that it demanded an immediate and substantial prison sentence in every circumstance, except in highly unusual circumstances which the court could not imagine. That was a principle, but I do not know what has happened since because we now have suspended sentences.

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