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

I understand that the sentences handed down in this case were concurrent sentences of seven and a half years and six and a half years, with 12 months suspended. That was on foot of several grave and egregious offences committed against these women.

The Government's view on sentencing is that the best way is not through mandatory sentencing, and we are agreed on that, but through sentencing guidelines. As a Government, we want to empower the new judicial council, once established, to be the body that will set those guidelines and in that way we can have much greater consistency across court decisions. People want perpetrators of violent crimes, whether sexual offences, murder or other violent crimes, to face the full rigours of the law and receive stiff sentences so that they are put away for the safety of others. They also want to see consistency in sentencing across court rooms. Our view is the best place to do that is through the Judicial Council Bill and we would welcome support from other parties.

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