Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to agree with this motion and to thank Senator Conway for bringing it to the House. It was not my intention to speak but when others were speaking about restorative justice, I was minded about two visits I made to two young offenders' institutions in the UK when I was working as a journalist. I always remember the lingering sadness of those places where people were locked away and almost forgotten about. Whenever they came out, people were working with them but already the managers were very clear in saying to me and others that this does not work. It is very difficult for the managers of a prison to be working with young offenders in the knowledge that they know it is not working and to try to bring something real to that situation so that those young people might have some hope as they leave. That stuck with me because I had not expected to find it. While we were sitting here talking about restorative justice, it occurred to me that here is a system that allows those young people in particular to take responsibility in a very different way.

Under this system, young people are confronted with what they have done and are given the opportunity to accept responsibility for it. They are obliged to face those whom they have offended and for whom they have caused difficulties. They are also encouraged to look at what they have done in a different way.

We have developed a system through the courts which involves the use of paid interlocutors. I intend no offence to the many legal people present in the Chamber but it must be recognised that we pay other individuals to do the talking and to remove all of the responsibility from those who commit crimes. One of the great aspects of restorative justice is that it restores that responsibility to offenders. It also offers victims the opportunity to have the wrongs done to them acknowledged in a way that is very personal and completely different from that which obtains in the courts.

I welcome those in the Gallery who work in this area and I commend those various communities in Tallaght, Limerick and Nenagh that are involved in restorative justice. I welcome the commitment given by the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to the effect that the restorative justice system will be not only maintained but expanded. The latter is really important because it provides a signal to those who work in the area that what they do is valued and recognised in the context of the good it has achieved. It is also an acknowledgement that we are on the right path.

The challenge that arises in the context of the restorative justice system lies in ensuring that the dignity of victims is upheld. I am aware that people are concerned by the fact that at present everything seems to revolve around the rights of the offender. It is the rights of victims which should always be taken into account. I am sure this is a very familiar theme and good restorative justice systems obviously take account of it. It must be remembered that offenders also have their dignity and their rights. I am of the view that moving to a system such as this, where their dignity is recognised, is important. Once people are thrown into an adversarial system such as the courts system, from the outset they will be treated as individuals for whom there is less consideration. In such circumstances, it is not surprising that people reoffend. Those who are convicted go straight from the courts to one of our many overcrowded prisons - Senator Clune mentioned visiting the prison in Cork and I have been to Mountjoy - and these are not great places to be. It is no surprise, therefore, that when people are released after serving prison terms, they reoffend. This is because they have been offered very little to assist them in restoring their dignity or availing of opportunities into the future.

Part of the problem with society is that it very much recognises the system that has been put in place. How many films have dealt with what happens in courtrooms, the great drama of somebody being found guilty and being sent to jail and the loud clang as the door to the latter closes? These are very resonant themes that we recognise. Restorative justice is a very brave approach because it attempts, not least, to turn this on its head and state that there is another way of proceeding. It is quite difficult to swim against the tide in terms of the ways of punishing people which we acknowledge and which are rooted in our system. As Senator O'Donovan noted, our need to punish people is very strong. To begin to discuss something which is different from that and to acknowledge that we do not need to punish people in what has become the accepted way is a step forward.

I suggest that not only must we expand the system of restorative justice but we must also begin educating children in school about the way in which responsibility must be taken by offenders and those who engage in wrongdoing. We must also educate them to believe that victims have a right to engage in the process. When many of those present in the Chamber went to school, they may have undergone the public humiliation of being told to stand in the corner if they had done something wrong. The position in schools has, of course, changed but I am of the view that we should begin to educate young people about this matter in order that we might start to overturn the very deep-rooted idea of punishment to which I refer.

The motion calls on the Government to commit to the implementation of EU Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and Council. I am of the opinion that implementing the directive would be of assistance in respect of this matter. I do not know if there are lessons to be learned from those who are involved in early intervention programmes with parents and young children. We are aware that there is very much to be done in terms of trying to get through to such parents and young children by giving them good advice and assistance at an early stage. There must be lessons that can be learned from the programmes to which I refer and perhaps what is learned can be applied to restorative justice programmes. This is an area which may be worthy of consideration.

The findings of the National Commission on Restorative Justice indicates that young men are very much involved in crime and that alcohol is a major problem. In the context of the joined-up thinking I continually advocate, it is clear that action in respect of the consumption and cost of alcohol and the way in which young men, in particular, consume it must be part of any solution at which we arrive with regard to restorative justice. We cannot afford to ignore this problem. The report of the commission also indicates that in Finland and Norway, trained volunteers and lay mediators are very much part of the restorative justice process. Given that we live in a country in which there are many volunteers, perhaps the Government might consider establishing a training programme for lay volunteers in order that they might become involved in the area of restorative justice.