Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister "Good afternoon" and thank her for her detailed opening statement. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate on the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022 and I very much welcome it. It is long overdue. I am happy to support its passage through the Dáil and I do so for the following reasons.

First of all, it brings Irish domestic law in line with international best practice. Finally, we are becoming consistent with our obligations and commitments under the Istanbul Convention. I also agree with the four Ps of the national strategy: prevention, protection, prosecution and policy co-ordination. That is a good approach to have. While I appreciate the Bill focuses on the prosecution component, there is also a significant prevention and deterrent aspect to it as well. I very much welcome the fact there is a lot of clarity in this document that was not there heretofore.

There are three specific provisions I want to draw attention to, and I am very much in favour of them. First of all, codifying and enshrining stalking as a specific stand-alone offence is a very positive way forward. I take the Minister's point that it is already an illegal activity, which is a criminal activity, but it is always good to specify and codify it exactly because it is an insidious, sinister and intimidatory behaviour.

I also welcome the fact there is a non-fatal offence of strangulation and suffocation as well. I take the Minister's point that that is a precursor. It is a serious crime in its own right but it is a gateway crime as well for even more dangerous crimes thereafter. It is good that it is nailed down in a particular stand-alone way.

I liked the fact the Minister mentioned that the Garda Commissioner was the person who recommended this law be brought in. It is an important point to make that when the senior law enforcement professional in the country requests a particular law, this Legislature at least will review and see if it is appropriate that we bring it in and that we respond to requests from the senior management of An Garda Síochána. That is a good way to go.

The third point I want to raise is in relation to the increased sentencing for conspiracy to murder. That is an important provision. It was ridiculous that those who give the order for a murder were punished much less than the people who pulled the trigger. We are mindful of the transnational nature of organised crime now that these hit men and assassins are hired internationally and brought into the country to pull the trigger, but the people who give the instructions and people who give the orders get off with a much lesser sentence. It is important that is brought up to a life sentence. I very much commend the Minister on that.

I have two concerns. The first is about enforcement. I suspect the Minister would be of pretty much the same view. We need more gardaí. We need more patrol cars. We need greater opening hours, especially in rural Garda stations. It is a feature across both rural and urban Ireland. I appreciate there are staff retention and recruitment issues in An Garda Síochána, but anything the Minister can do to increase the number of uniformed personnel out there would make a significant difference. There is no point in having all this law if we cannot enforce it.

Finally, to double-line the good points of Deputy Catherine Murphy as well, who spoke of a public awareness campaign, this is a great opportunity to increase the level of awareness publicly. We now have specific stand-alone crimes and a public awareness campaign would be useful. Such a campaign would focus on the first "P", which is prevention, which is what we are all trying to achieve. We do not want to punish people for crimes. We want to prevent the crimes from happening in the first place.

I welcome the legislation. It is appropriate, proportionate and necessary. I note the Minister will bring some amendments forward. I am happy to review those and assess them on their own merits. However, as it stands, I am happy to support this Bill through the Dáil.

See this speech in context