Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Let me say, without commenting on any specific case for a variety of reasons, that anybody with a criminal conviction should not be a member of the Defence Forces, plain and simple. Its own rules refer to the fact that the dismissal process should begin for anyone who has been given a custodial sentence or a suspended sentence. The question I want answered is if that loop has been closed. How many people still in the Defence Forces today are concerned by that issue? We need that answer. The Tánaiste and I are progressing that.

The Minister for Justice is seeking an urgent update from the Judicial Council on sentencing guidelines. My understanding, from memory, is that the first area on which the Judicial Council is working on sentencing guidelines is domestic violence. On legislative change, we rule nothing out but we have not made any decisions either.

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