Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like everyone in this House, I abhor crimes of this nature. Sexual crimes are among the worst that can be perpetrated against anyone. Crimes against children are also among the worst that can be committed.

On sentencing, it is important to acknowledge that there is a separation of powers between the Dáil, the Government and the Judiciary. Ultimately, it is judges and juries who hear cases, who sit for days hearing all the evidence and the arguments and who make decisions based on that. We need to be careful not to do anything to second-guess decisions by judges in this regard. However, the Government believes it is appropriate we should move towards sentencing guidelines. The best way to do that is through the Judicial Council Bill, which is making its way through the Houses. The purpose of this legislation, as part of our reforms, is to establish a judicial council which can be a body that engages in training and upskilling judges and dealing with other matters relating to them. It can also be the body which forms and issues sentencing guidelines. The Government and the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, will be happy to work with other parties on that.

I do not believe the right vehicle for sentencing guidelines is the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, which deals with judicial appointments. The right way to deal with this issue is by establishing a judicial council and giving it the function of drawing up sentencing guidelines rather than having this done by politicians.

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