Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know that in practice it is being left to the Judiciary to decide if it will be a fine or imprisonment, but as far as I am aware the amendment is changing the original sanction which was a mandatory jail term, unless the Minister of State can tell me otherwise. To delete "to the imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years" and substitute "to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, or both", means in plain English that the original version was imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years. Now it is changed and the Minister of State is not sending the right message at all. I do not know why this was drafted and why it went through Cabinet considering all of the comments made in this House which would reflect the opinion of the population - that this is a heinous crime for which there will be no tolerance whatsoever.