Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I do not believe in a yellow card system whereby mandatory sentencing would only kick in after the first crime, particularly when it is of an aggravated nature such as assaulting an old person in their own home. The mandatory system needs to kick in from the start. Part of the reason we are in the current position, is that State-sponsored do-gooders and civil libertarians have diluted the role of the criminal justice system. They have done so to the point where ordinary people feel the criminal justice system is just that - justice for the criminal. Victims are thus left in isolated rural areas, waiting for the next time some criminal walks in their gate. We saw a high profile case in County Mayo where a person at his wits end, was driven to doing something he will probably regret for the rest of his life, but the man had no alternative.

There should be no remission for these type of people who need to be exorcised from society. There should be no early release for them and no yellow card system. There should be mandatory sentences. Such people should not repay their debt to society by having gym membership, menus and satellite TVs in prison. They need to repay their debt to society in the strongest possible terms. The criminal justice system should revert to a situation where it provides justice for victims, not criminals.

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