Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

I will not rehash the arguments we made on Committee Stage either, but children are different. If the Minister is worried about 17 year olds, he could consider putting them in a different category, as distinct from 13 and 14 year olds. In Sweden they do not incarcerate anybody under the age of 15 years, no matter what the crime is. In the main, we are talking about vulnerable children who need assistance and support.

They should not be identified and tagged as criminals but as young citizens who need serious intervention and help. It is normal to place limits on the length of time they should spend in detention. Given that it happens in other countries and we previously had a three-year limit in place, it would not be radical. I will not rehash the arguments made.

The Minister did not comment on amendment No. 5 which I deliberately split off to give him the luxury of supporting one without the other, given that he does not like the amendment that would implement a maximum limit of three years. Amendment No. 5 contains the points I made at length about the court giving its reasons in writing, which is critical for all of the reasons I outlined such as the gathering of data and consistency. I do not see why he could not incorporate it.

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