Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Clearly, in court the issues in each case have to be examined but I take the view, as does the Deputy, that consistency of sentencing is an important issue. The approach we have taken is to publish the Judicial Council Bill 2017, under which a sentencing information committee will be established to collate information on sentences imposed by the courts and to disseminate information among judges and persons other than judges. That will be a valuable tool for the Judiciary and for the public's understanding of sentencing regimes and how they work. A report of the working group on the strategic review of penal policy was published in June 2014 following excellent work. It was a broad ranging report on this policy but they examined the issue of developing sentencing guidelines. However, the majority of the group took the view that the primary role of developing such guidelines is the responsibility of the Judiciary and does not lie in bringing forward detailed statutory-based guidelines.

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