Results 301-320 of 1,037,572 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Máiría Cahill OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:Róisín Shortall) in 'Committee meetings'

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: Absolutely, but mandatory sentencing for murder is being disapplied in this case and that means we are reverting back to common law. If the two are separated, there is no sentence for a child who commits murder. I commit to engaging with my team on that to get clarity before speaking on it tomorrow. More broadly, the best thing we can do for young people is to make sure they get the...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: This Bill has been introduced because of the equality provision under Article 41 of the Constitution. Under that provision, there is a requirement to ensure that all citizens shall be dealt with equally before the law. That means that when the State and particularly the Oireachtas, when we enact laws, cannot unjustly or arbitrarily discriminate between citizens. It does not mean we cannot...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Brendan Howlin: Visiting, I hope.

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: -----and I met a man who had been convicted of murder and had received a life sentence. He was not in any way trying to impress me but I was surprised by what he said to me, that when he was being brought up as a young man, he was taught by his father that all the problems in his life could be resolved through violence. He believed that into his 20s and 30s. He consistently believed that...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Catherine Connolly: I am not sure if there are three speakers left or there are two.

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Michael Healy-Rae: Two.

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Catherine Connolly: Okay. There are 12 minutes. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae is next.

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Danny Healy-Rae: This is obviously a very serious matter and we must treat it as such. When we are talking about mitigating the life sentence for the murder of some other human being, it is serious. You always have to think of the family whose family member was taken from them by someone else, whether it was with a knife, a gun or some other means. There are two sides to this. We cannot be seen to...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Michael Collins: The main point of the changes being made in this criminal justice Bill is to address how young people who commit serious crimes like murder are sentenced. Specifically, it deals with the situations where someone commits a crime as a child but is sentenced after they reach the age of 18. We are speaking about the sentencing of young people. I was talking to a mother the other day on the...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: That is not true.

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Peadar Tóibín: Every day, more and more gardaí are resigning and retiring. Every day, gardaí are being attacked in this country. There is a breakdown in the criminal justice system which is leading to a situation where some criminals feel they can get away with murder with impunity if necessary. That is a very serious issue. I will repeat the core points on this issue. We certainly want to...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Mattie McGrath: I am. I was at a briefing with the Ceann Comhairle. Interestingly, it was about the security of Members and staff. I certainly want to comment on this situation. It is very important that we try to take all measures to protect all of our citizens, and not only Members of this House and whoever else. The situation is very bad at present. It has deteriorated rapidly under the...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Catherine Connolly: I want to remind the Deputy that we are on the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024.

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Mattie McGrath: I know that. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. There are a lot of amendments and changes that need to be made. Some of them are here, and some are missing. We can have all the amendments, Bills and legislation that we like, but we do not have basic numbers of members of An Garda Síochána. We should cut out the spin and the announcements of how many gardaí are being...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Catherine Connolly: I am loath to stop Deputy McGrath, but I have stopped a lot of TDs today. This Bill is about disapplying the mandatory life sentence for murder for minors. Please direct the discussion to the subject of the Bill.

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Mattie McGrath: Of course it is. We have seen the murder of members of An Garda Síochána and different people. Any murder, the taking of life, is the most heinous crime there is. Of course there should be mandatory sentences, and not a slipshod version of it - that is not a life sentence. Life should mean life because after all, somebody has taken another person's life. The situation regarding...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Michael Healy-Rae: Amending the Criminal Justice Act 1990 was always going to be a very difficult and tenuous thing to do because of what is involved. How we deal with young offenders - especially people who take the life of a person, even if the person taking that life is under 18 years of age - is obviously a very serious thing. The deterrents have to be in place. We have to highlight the fact that taking...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Peadar Tóibín: I understand what the Minister is seeking to do with this Bill. We support the objective behind the Bill in this case. The law in this area has to be changed because current practice has been deemed unconstitutional. All minors should be treated equally under the law when considering their age. That is a really important issue. A couple of issues arise in the context of what is...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Brendan Howlin: As the Minister stated, this is very short, focused legislation to deal with the anomaly that has arisen on foot of the High Court case, one that was considered by the justice committee in light of an application by the Minister to waive pre-legislative scrutiny. I am not a member of the justice committee anymore, but waiving pre-legislative scrutiny is not something I am particularly...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Catherine Connolly: I have given great leeway to Deputy Ó Murchú.