Rónán Mullen (Independent)

I call for a debate on the extraordinary and compelling comments of Mr. Justice Paul Carney yesterday when he said that he felt constrained such that he was unable to impose a life sentence on a rapist convicted of rape for the third time because of an appeal against a previous decision of his where a life sentence was reduced. I strongly believe in a rehabilitative system of justice. I am not for a "hang 'em and flog 'em" system of justice.

When Mr. Justice Carney asked whether the female half of the population must accept that one or more might be a target because of a rapist's constitutional rights, then it is time for a debate, particularly in light of the latest report that describes assessment and treatment services for sexual offenders as patchy. Until such time as we take seriously the treatment and assessment of sexual offenders and the need for a rehabilitative system of justice, we must not put women or other citizens at risk. People refer to constitutional amendments and we must do what we must do in the Constitution and in our legislative system so that life sentences can be passed on rapists convicted in the circumstances of the case to which I refer.

I refer to the question raised by Senators O'Toole and McDonald, namely, the horrifying events in Roscommon. The House needs to debate this issue and it needs to be a calm and reasoned debate and we must avoid hysteria. I am not inspired by some of the comments I have heard already. There seems to be a desire to bring an extraneous matter into the issue, namely, some fringe group which was offering assistance of some kind. That is an extraneous matter——