Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy raises a very important issue which exercises many Members including, I am sure, Deputies O'Callaghan and Curran, who are seated beside him. I want to refer to the effectiveness of the minimum mandatory sentence for drug offences to which the Deputy refers. While acknowledging, as Deputy Brendan Smith does, the separation of powers and that the matter of sentencing is an issue for the courts, I want to acknowledge the work recently carried out by the group established to undertake a strategic review of penal policy. That group recommended that no further mandatory sentences or presumptive minimum sentences should be introduced. That group was of the view that the continuation of existing presumptive minimum sentences and the threshold for their application in drugs and other offences should be reviewed in the context of judgments of the Court of Criminal Appeal. This recommendation was made with a view towards determining if the type of sentencing to which the Deputy refers satisfies the need for proportionality in sentencing and fulfils the objective of reducing crime.

This merits further consideration by the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality because it is an important issue that is giving rise to community concerns, as evidenced by Deputy Brendan Smith's question.

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