Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Our jails are full of people who have not paid their licence, carpenter or plumber, and if we did not introduce this law, the others to whom I refer would end up in jail. We want criminals and people who burgle and terrorise people at gunpoint in jail. I visited a house in Rathfarnham where people yielding a gun and three knives came in to rob the occupants. Those are the people we want in jail, and a minimum threshold in that regard.

I call for a debate on child care. Caring for children is important. Abuse of children is an important issue to be addressed. They are different, but they are all about children. Before the budget we should make sure that every Department, and future Departments, will ensure that child care is put at the top of the agenda. I read a tweet last night from Gerry Adams which said:

Time 4 sleep. Thoughts r with Jock Davidson's family. Oiche mhaith.

That was on the same day his own brother lost his appeal against a conviction for child abuse in the North. There was no oíche mhaith or tweet about why someone would do something like that to their daughter.