Brendan Ryan (Labour)

The Leader's enforced brevity causes me a somewhat of a problem because I did not realise the debate was so well advanced.

Great credit is due for even attempting to deal with this issue because I believe a satisfactory resolution is not possible, it is a case of just making one's best guess. I must declare that I am married to a psychiatrist, therefore, my judgment on many issues relating to psychiatry and incarceration, whether in a psychiatric hospital or prison, is influenced by someone else's considerable experience.

We must avoid transferring social problems to the medical profession because this is not a solution. I suspect the law has elaborated well on the Roman Catholic moral distinction between an evil act and guilt. Whatever one thinks about the church as an institution, the thought processes by which it worked out positions is often awesomely impressive. The distinction between guilt of the individual and the wrongness of the act is well worth considering. It is easier for a moral theologian, however, to make that distinction in terms of theology than it is for the law to put it into practice.