Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I take the point of the Minister of State and support Senator Norris. As I said, there is a concern that prosecutions for breaches of barring orders and so on often involve people who stack up convictions for such an offence, yet because none is a serious offence they cannot be denied bail if charged with a further offence on the basis that they may commit a serious offence.

There is a valid concern about the time limit for service of a summons in respect of a minor offence because these are not indictable offences. I take the Minister of State's point; there may be another way to deal with this issue which involves a change in policing practice and charging people under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, in particular the aggravated version of the offence which will be provided for in amendment No. 47b. There are other ways of dealing with the difficulties.

I wish to acknowledge that practising lawyers on the front line and NGOs have pointed out the practical difficulties arising from the fact that a breach of these orders is only a minor offence, and I take the point of the Minister of State as to why this is so. It is worth highlighting the practical difficulties which arise in cases where a respondent has a cumulative series of convictions for breaches of barring orders, none of which is serious on an individual basis but perhaps more serious charges should have been pressed. It is more of a policing issue.