Section 5 introduces into Irish law the concept of diminished responsibility which concept does not exist in law. It is only being applied in the case of murder which carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. It is because of the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment that it is appropriate to distinguish between cases where diminished responsibility is a factor and cases in which it is not. The effect of this will be that if diminished responsibility is successfully pleaded, a conviction for manslaughter will be recorded with the sentence, at the discretion of the court, being any term of imprisonment up to life. There is no need to apply the concept in the case of other crimes where there is no mandatory sentence. In those instances the judge can take into account the mental condition of the convicted person when considering what sentence to impose. The availability of the diminished responsibility verdict provides an alternative for juries and should reduce the danger that a jury will return an insanity verdict when faced with a person whom they regard as not being completely sane, even if he or she does not meet the legal criteria for insanity.