Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

No. The Bill is practically identical to our one with the exception of the six months.

This was put forward in the programme for Government and we support this aspect of it. We support the Bill because it will encourage greater use of community service orders and will provide reparations to the community in the form of work for the community. It will result in financial savings which are not to be underestimated because the Irish Prison Service and prisons are under severe pressure. It will help the offender to maintain ties with his or her local area and will enhance public safety, although at times there will be legitimate concerns about some of the characters who will appear on these schemes. Apart from the money saved on prisons, it will make our prisons a better place to be.

This is part of a comprehensive approach to crime. We talked about white collar crime earlier and how we are dealing with it in a very tough way and giving really tough investigative powers to our investigators and prosecutors. Some might say this is going soft on crime but I do not believe it is. It is part of a comprehensive approach to dealing with what some might describe as a crime epidemic. It allows us to be smarter and more clever in the way we deal with crime and allocate punishment in society. It also allows the punishment to be of benefit to the community. We support the Bill and wish it safe passage.