Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

While I am not keen on the statutory approach, the Courts Service, which is an independent body that administers the operation of the courts and on which the Judiciary has a majority, established a steering committee in October 2004 to plan for and provide a system of information on sentencing. The initiative of the board was designed to provide some systemic form of information as a reference point for judges.

The terms of reference are to plan for and provide information on sentencing. The committee consists of Mrs. Justice Susan Denham, who is chairperson, Mr. Justice Kevin O'Higgins, Mr. Justice Esmond Smyth, Judge Miriam Malone, president of the District Court, and Professor Tom O'Malley, who is known to some Members of this House.

The steering committee has reviewed sentencing systems worldwide and identified those of Scotland and New South Wales in Australia as being most relevant to our situation. Professor Cyrus Tata, who is the director of the Centre for Sentencing Research at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, made a presentation to the committee on the sentencing system operating in the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland for ten years. Professor Tata played a leading role in the development of the Scottish sentencing information system. The committee decided to establish a pilot project in the Circuit Court in Dublin. I understand two researchers have been selected to collect and collate information on sentencing outcomes in cases on indictment in designated courts in accordance with the criteria specified by the committee. It is not as if nothing is happening on this front. If I were to introduce the all bells and whistles mandatory provisions along the lines of those proposed by Senator Cummins, the cost and manpower implications would be truly massive.