Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Seanad Éireann:acknowledges the Government's commitment to further develop and expand the restorative justice process throughout the State;
reiterates the rights of victims of crime to receive appropriate information, support and protection and to participate in criminal proceedings, where appropriate;
acknowledges and affirms the work of the National Commission on Restorative Justice;
notes that the Probation Service, in partnership with community based organisations, is engaged in the promotion, development and delivery of restorative justice initiatives and that the extension of restorative justice programmes is a strategic priority for the Probation Service;
recognises the experience and positive outcomes associated with the application of restorative justice in Northern Ireland;
recognises the work of the Nenagh Community Reparation Project, the Restorative Justice Service and Le Chéile Restorative Justice Project in the provision of restorative justice pilot programmes in their respective areas;and calls on the Government:to support the Minister for Justice in the development and extension of restorative justice to the greatest possible extent, as a nationwide non-custodial option available to the criminal justice system; and
to commit to the implementation of EU Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and Council of 25th October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, supports and protection of victims of crime.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, for the debate on this important motion. When I was first elected to Seanad Éireann, I was appointed to the Oireachtas committee on justice. As part of my work on this committee, I was a member of the penal reform sub-committee which was researching and reporting on better ways of dealing with penal reform. Part of that process involved visits to Mountjoy Prison and Cork Prison, as well as St. Patrick's Institution. I was struck by the number of people who should really not have been in prison. Being there was going to do nothing for them or society. Unfortunately, prison life does not augur well in preparing people for life after incarceration. Despite the best efforts of prison governors and staff, prison life is harsh and can make inmates angry.

Do the victims of crime want this? Do they understand prison life does nothing to rehabilitate the offender, the person who committed a crime against them? We are leaders in our own right and here to improve society, to make it a better place. I do not understand how society benefits from having young men, in many cases possibly for their second or third offence, in prison. I have been trying to identify a better way to deal with this. Going through my work programme for the year with my parliamentary assistant, I was explaining my frustration following these prison visits. My assistant asked me if I had ever heard of the restorative justice process, which I had not. After tabling this motion, I have found that many of my colleagues have not heard of it either. This debate is, accordingly, timely.

The National Commission on Restorative Justice produced a valuable report in 2009 which outlined the benefits of such a system. For those who are not aware of it, it is a means by which the victim and the offender are brought together through a restorative conference process. The victim has a central role in ensuring the perpetrator of the crime against him or her understands the impact the crime has had on him or her. It appeals to the good nature of the majority, even criminals. The process does not have any legal status for adults, but it does for children. The 2001 Children Act provides the juvenile courts process with a restorative justice framework and speaking to those who have used it, they regard it as successful.

The Probation Service and An Garda Síochána have done their best to embrace the principles of restorative justice through several successful pilot projects in south County Dublin and north Tipperary. The latter was extended from covering Nenagh specifically to include the whole of north Tipperary. There is also programme in place in parts of Limerick city. I welcome Ms Nadette Foley from Facing Forward and some of her colleagues to the Visitors Gallery who are gently pushing the principles and philosophy of restorative justice. The reality is that the Irish Prison Service is not working. Incarceration costs ¤65,000 per year per prisoner, while the cost of the restorative justice process is ¤3,500. The victims of crime in society deserve a better deal, as do offenders. Restorative justice clearly offers a better deal for the victim, the offender, the public interest and society. It is a process for which the country can set best practice internationally, as we have done through our peacekeepers and missionaries.

We have set best practice in areas such as the smoking ban and in myriad areas throughout the short period of our democracy. Our neighbours in Northern Ireland have set best practice in restorative justice but I believe this country has the wherewithal to create a new thinking, a new way of dealing with crime, a new way of ensuring that the victims of crime and their needs become centre stage and that the communities in this society which have been the victims of crime, of which there are many, take centre stage.

The figures speak for themselves. The pilot programmes have shown that 78% of offenders who engaged in the restorative justice process have not re-offended. Can we say that 78% of prisoners who have served their sentences and gone back out have not re-offended? Absolutely not. This is a win, win, win situation. It is a case of "Yes", "Yes", "Yes". The reality is that this approach is cheap, cost-effective, it treats people as human beings, it respects the dignity of all people, it respects the dignity not only of the victim but also of the offender and it respects the dignity of their families.

In the course of being introduced to this process I attended some very worthwhile lectures which took place throughout the city. I heard from genuine volunteers who are working under the radar trying to deliver a message of difference and hope, a message that we can do things differently, that we can do things more cost effectively and that we can do things while respecting the human dignity of everyone. We have a great society. This will not cost money; in fact it will save money. This is something that must happen; there is no alternative. The Irish Prison Service is bursting at the seams and it is not working. This is clear if one goes to any of the prisons. I have been there as have members of the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. It is proven beyond doubt that they are overcrowded, primarily with people who should not be there in the first place.

The pilot programmes in existence in south Dublin, north Tipperary, Limerick and within the youth services should be extended nationally. The Government should make the resources available to run a properly-funded national restorative justice programme. We have the expertise in terms of the restorative justice community, who are doing great work. We have the expertise within the Probation Service, which is a partner in this process. We have the expertise within An Garda Síochána, which is embracing this in the various areas. I have attended lectures at which members of the Garda have spoken about their pride in the programmes of restorative justice. We need to take this and run with it.

I am pleased that no counter motion has been tabled. I hope this motion will receive the unanimous support of Seanad Éireann. It is probably the first time that a restorative justice motion has been put forward in the House and received unanimous support and that is useful. The Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, through my work, has agreed to a module on restorative justice. I hope we will invite in some of the participants to give evidence and then produce a report for Government on how a national programme could be run effectively. The results speak for themselves. I commend the motion to the House.