Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

People have, therefore, have had enough of light sentences for these crimes and there is a real and immediate challenge. As legislators, we must respond rationally and effectively to what is a very grave deficiency within our criminal justice system and the Government must lead that response. We need to build public confidence. We need a mechanism to deliver consistency and accountability in sentencing. The sentencing council model should be introduced in this jurisdiction. This would involve a full range of stakeholders and the wider public in the process of establishing sentencing guidelines for the Judiciary. Members of the Judiciary, of course, would still remain central to the process. The sentencing guidelines issued would ensure the Judiciary must stick to the range provided for the category of offence before them. This would reassure the public of the appropriateness of sentences for serious crime. It would also ensure consistency and accountability across the courts system. Does the Tánaiste accept that there is a serious problem in respect of sentencing, specifically in respect of sexual crime and abuse? What does the Government propose to do about this? Will the Government give serious consideration to adopting the sentencing council model as I have outlined?

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