Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To see first of all the ladies from the Magdalen laundries stand and applaud the Taoiseach after his speech and then all Members, including the Ceann Comhairle, stand and applaud these women was a sight to behold. Anyone present could not but have been touched by the emotion in that House yesterday evening.

We are all keen to see a proper system of redress for the ladies of the Magdalen. The fact that Mr. Justice Quirke has been appointed to consider a proper scheme and report within three months indicates that we will have action on this matter soon. We all agree that it was something that should have been acted upon many years ago but was not. Now that it has been and that the apology has been given I hope the redress for those wonderful ladies will materialise fairly soon.

Senator O'Brien asked about the Garda and highlighted that there were no Garda vehicles in a particular area. Some 203 extra vehicles were provided last year and ¤5 million extra was provided this year for the purchase of vehicles for An Garda Síochána. The matter raised by Senator O'Brien is unacceptable and I hope that funding will address the matter of the availability of vehicles. This Government totally respects and values gardaí and values the services of all involved, not alone in the Garda but in all services, including ambulance men, nurses and everyone else. That is why we are looking for the fairest possible deal under Croke Park for all public services. The first five weeks of the talks have taken place and they did not concern people on the front line. They were about the pay and conditions of other members in the public service, including people on large salaries and their pensions. These issues have been mentioned as well and will have to be addressed and will be addressed but, ultimately, we must have the fairest system for all public servants.

Senator O'Brien raised a matter on the Order of Business some weeks ago which I brought to the attention of the Minister for Justice and Equality. The Senator suggested that there was a directive from the Dublin joint policing committee to the effect that in some way burglaries would be overlooked and that a lenient sentence would be given to those involved. I have a reply from the Minister on the matter and I will put it on the record of the House:

I refer to your letter of 5 February 2013 concerning a matter raised on the Order of Business suggesting that a directive had issued to the courts on the matter of sentencing in burglary cases. As you might observe, this is not a matter in which I or my Department would involve itself. The Dublin City Council central area policing sub-committee wrote to me on the matter and has been informed that no such directive has issued nor could issue. As you are aware, the position is that judges are independent in the matter of sentencing as in other matters concerning the exercise of judicial functions, subject only to the Constitution and the law and neither I as Minister nor my Department could issue any such directive in this regard.

I hope that clarifies the matter raised by the Senator.