Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

It is not a choice. If that was the case, the extension of the Senator's argument would be that if somebody was in a car crash week and was convicted of dangerous driving, we could pass a law and change it in such a way that perhaps they would get a prison sentence for dangerous driving. The Legislature just cannot do this. It would be wrong. Neither Gerard Hogan nor any other person in the balance in the criminal law review group in any way suggested there should be retrospection in this regard.