Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank my colleague, Senator Conway, for bringing forward this motion. I fully support and second the motion. This issue is something we need to address in this country. That is something we have not done in real terms. There has been little if any major reform of the criminal justice system and little has been done to see if there is a better way of dealing with the criminal and assisting the victim. This is something we need to do. It was Gandhi who said that an eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind. While victims seek to ensure that perpetrators are identified and brought to account for their actions, the vast majority are keen to ensure that the person who has perpetrated a crime does not repeat it.

Unfortunately, the criminal justice system we currently have is like a revolving door. One need only go to any of the courts to find that the people before the courts were there six months ago, 12 months ago, 18 months ago or two years before that. In other words, this is not their first time in the courts.

The motion refers to a directive from the European Parliament dated 2012. The purpose of the directive is to establish minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime. The articles refer to the need for the victim to understand and be understood, receive information, be heard, have access to victim support services, enjoy safeguards in the context of restorative justice services, be protected and enjoy privacy and be individually assessed to identify specific protection needs. The directive states that practitioners likely to come into contact with victims should be trained and that member states should provide data and statistics to the European Commission. The directive is focused on the issue of victims because until recently victims were excluded from the process. This motion includes victims in a way such that we can have the person involved in the crime and the victim working together with the local community with regard to looking at a better way forward, rather than what we have done in the past.

It is interesting to consider the report of the National Commission on Restorative Justice. It presents restorative justice as a forward-looking, problem-solving approach to crime which involves the parties and the community generally in an active relationship with various agencies. It argues that restorative justice brings victims and offenders into contact with each other and gives victims an opportunity to get answers to questions that are of direct concern to them. It also gives victims a chance to explain to offenders the real impact and consequences of their wrongdoing. Accordingly, it can be a significant experience which may provide the victim with a degree of closure, a point singularly important following any crime; it is crucial to ensure that the victim feels that there is closure at some stage in the process. Far too often victims see no closure.

Earlier I referred to reform in the criminal justice system. The Minister of State will probably be aware of a project dating from 1996 in Cork. The project was led by Colm O'Herlihy who works in the Irish Prison Service. It was an important project. We have a revolving door prison system but we are not proactive enough in trying to steer people in a different direction. The project was done in Cork Prison. He got approximately 20 people who were in prison to go on an education programme. At the same time he got their partners, who were not in prison but who were giving support to the prisoners, to go on an education programme as well. When they came out of prison approximately 12 of the 20 went back to full-time education. This goes to show what real reform is about. That was one project which was very successful and it is a pity that we have not done more like it. While we have done some work, we need to do a good deal more. This process of restorative justice must be developed, encouraged and put in place far more extensively, rather than then simply relying on two pilot projects.

Compared to the 1996 project, it was a success, but unfortunately we have not done enough of a follow-up to ensure that success will benefit others. I welcome this motion and fully support it. It is a case of all of us working together to try to bring about the change required.