Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

How will the Minister deal with this issue? The Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality put forward the concept of a criminal justice inspectorate and the Minister referenced the report of Mr. Robert Olson for the Garda Inspectorate, which was published last week. Has the Minister or the Cabinet sub-committee on justice reform given real consideration to the establishment of an overarching criminal justice inspectorate to examine all the major players in this area, including the Probation Service, the courts, prisons, the Garda Síochána and so on? We all agree that the figures are staggering and those most affected are the victims. Victims are not getting justice. I recognise that much of the problem relates to the non-payment of fixed charge penalty notices which necessitates a court summons by default. Nonetheless, many warrants mean that everyday people do not get justice. An overarching criminal justice inspectorate would ensure the different stakeholders in the criminal justice system communicate coherently with each other. The figures show that at the moment this does not happen.

See this speech in context