Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I support Senator Finance's amendment which ties in with previous calls in this House for a debate on sentencing policy. There is a lack of confidence in the criminal justice system in terms of the sentences being handed down and time served in that regard.

The Minister of State may correct me if I am wrong, but the idea behind sentencing a person to prison is to ensure a person is detained for a certain number of years thereby preventing him or her breaking the law and committing the same crime again. I am aware of the early release system and the conditions built into it. Generally speaking, the principle of this amendment is to ensure that when a person is sent to prison for life, he or she must serve a specified number of years of that sentence. This would make clear to all that the law is rigid and must be obeyed and that those who violate it will serve an expressed number of years in prison.