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

All of us appreciate and value the independence of the Judiciary, the separation of powers and the necessity for an independent Judiciary. The Tánaiste will notice that I have not advanced an argument in respect of mandatory sentences for that very reason. It is our job, however, to reflect truthfully the level of public disquiet that arises in high profile or other cases, particularly of sexual violence. It is our job, as legislators, to decide upon a framework within which the Judiciary might independently operate and that is the proposition I am putting to the Tánaiste. We are largely in agreement and I do not for a moment gainsay her concern for victims. I absolutely acknowledge and appreciate that. I equally acknowledge changes in the law but I have advanced an argument in favour of a sentencing council. In 2015, my colleague, Senator Pádraig MacLochlainn, and, in 2017, my colleague, Deputy Jonathan O'Brien, introduced sentencing council Bills. I am trying to win the Tánaiste over to the merits of that approach, not to mandatory sentencing but to guidelines that would have the dual advantage of, one the one hand, affording guidance, not direction, to the Bench, but also a mechanism that would massively enhance public confidence, which has been dented, in the sentencing policy of the State.

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