Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome the opportunity to make a contribution on this Bill and to the debate. Many Senators have given perspectives on it. I join Senator Norris in recognising families in the Gallery who have suffered loss due to murder. All of us can only imagine the huge grief and loss those families have had to live with not just at the time of the horrific event, but during the very trying court cases that followed, hearing the witness statements and all that is associated with the case. They have to live their lives after the event, knowing that the perpetrator is in prison for some time.

When somebody is given a life sentence for first degree murder, the public and anybody who is aware of such a case expects that the sentence is served. Even objectively, for a person not directly affected by the case but as a member of the public, it is very frustrating and worrying to discover that due to a decision of a parole board, a life sentence is shortened for whatever reason. That is why as a Government Senator I support the general thrust of this Bill.

When the courts have gone through detailed investigation, the jurors have made their recommendations and the judge has handed down a decision, there is a fair expectation that the sentence would be served. When I was growing up in the 1970s, a murder appeared on all the main news bulletins, and it was spoken of at every door. I am concerned that as a society we have become somewhat desensitised to the word "murder". Murders happen on a weekly basis in this country. It is of concern to me as a parent of young children that the same hurt and frustration is not being felt by society when it hears the word murder as it was in my day. I remember hearing about the murder of a garda. It was a very serious offence when I was growing up, and it is still a very serious offence. The life of a garda, one of the custodians of law and order in this State, has to be protected but, in the same way, the life of a person or a citizen of this country has to be taken seriously.

I commend Senator Marie Louise O'Donnell on introducing this Bill because it is important that we debate these issues in a public forum such as the Houses of the Oireachtas. It is important to discuss people's concerns when they read that someone who was sentenced to life imprisonment is out because of a parole board recommendation.

I understand how legislation works. This Bill may not be perfect, and I ask the officials of the Department of Justice and Equality to engage with the Senators who proposed the Bill. If this Bill does not address their concerns, perhaps the Minister of State could bring forward other legislation that they can support and that addresses their concerns. I understand the Government may not be supporting the Bill, but I emphasise that when a sentence is handed down by the courts of this land for a serious offence such as murder, the general expectation, after a fair trial has been heard, is that the person must serve that life sentence. I understand that parole boards sit and there is a role for them. My view is not right wing or ideological. When I was a child, murder horrified me, my family and my peers. I am sure it is the same for everybody else. We cannot allow murder to become a lesser degree crime in the statutes of this State. There is strong merit in the thrust of this Bill.