Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The programme for Government contains a broad range of policies and proposals that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more safe and just society. To deliver a safe, fair and inclusive Ireland, we must have a system that has all the necessary tools to ensure that, after due process has been served, the sentence handed down matches the crime. As part of my Department's work programme set out in Justice Plan 2022, there is a commitment to examine reforms on mandatory life sentences for murder. This is with a view to making provision for judges to impose a minimum number of years to be served having regard to the aggravating and mitigating factors in the particular case.

To progress this matter, I will be consulting the Attorney General and other Government colleagues in bringing forward this reform, which will give the public greater confidence that in the most heinous murder cases, judges will have the discretion to set a minimum sentence of 20 or 30 years, or even more, recognising the reality that over the past ten years, many people serving life sentences have been imprisoned for at least 20 years and in some cases considerably longer.

I have asked my Department to look at cases involving offences other than murder, as we know life sentences could be handed down for serious sexual assault, rape and abuse, especially involving children, or in the case of multiple murders. It should not just apply for murder cases and we must ensure that where there are particularly heinous and difficult cases, this would apply to them as well.

The recommendation from the Law Reform Commission's 2013 report will inform this process and I can outline that in a moment. As the Deputy may be aware, a life sentence in Ireland remains applicable even after release from custody, and a breach of parole conditions results in a return to prison. In terms of the timeframe for this work, I hope to be in a position to finalise proposals and bring them to Government in the coming months. I would like to have that done before the summer recess, while acknowledging the huge pressure many of my officials are under with their workload. We would very much like to bring it forward before the end of the summer.

This initiative relating to mandatory life sentences should be seen in the context of the review of my Department's wider programme of prison and penal reform, details of which I plan to publish in the coming months. I can also go into those in further detail.

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