Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the Supreme Court decision yesterday that section 249(1) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 is unconstitutional. This subsection provides that someone in prison is not entitled to receive a pension. The case involved someone who was convicted of rape. The court ordered that he is entitled not only to be paid his pension but also to receive €10,000 in compensation. This is a very serious decision. Yes, the Supreme Court is correct that there is a separation of powers. It found that the Act is unconstitutional. There is, however, no word as to how the victims have been treated. People may not be aware that the victims in this case, as far as I am concerned, could now apply to court for a garnishee order looking for the moneys not to be paid to this person but to be held in court and paid to the people who suffered injury and loss as a result of his crime. We need to look at this decision very quickly in order that if the courts need additional powers when passing sentence, they would also make an order that any pension to which such a person is entitled would go into a fund that would then go back to the victims. It is wrong that someone who has been convicted of such a crime can receive a benefit from the State while serving a sentence while the victims do not receive any recognition or compensation for the loss and injury they have suffered. This is a matter on which we should immediately bring the Minister for Justice and Equality before the House to see what amendments can be made and how we can ensure that the pension goes to the victims and not the person serving the sentence. We need to do this at the earliest possible date.