Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and the opportunity to debate this Bill on Report Stage. It is an important Bill. I have already spoken on behalf of the Labour Party on Second and Committee Stages when I welcomed the legislation and the amendments.

I seek a response from the Minister of State on a specific issue. Senator Ó Donnghaile has raised aspects of it. It relates to this group of amendments about the personal injuries guidelines committee. Under amendment No. 22, the committee will comprise seven judges who will be nominated by the Chief Justice. Is there any provision - I do not see it in the amendments - for the committee to consult external persons or experts? I ask because I am contrasting the committee with the sentencing guidelines and information committee, which I very much welcome. This is set out in section 19 which specifically refers to lay members, in addition to judicial members. Section 20 provides that it would be desirable for the lay members to possess knowledge of and experience in a number of areas, including the administration of justice, sentencing policy, the use of statistics and the rehabilitation of offenders, and that the Public Appointments Service shall have regard to this desirability. That is important.

What Senator Ruane said about diversity of committee membership and an unconscious bias is important. The Senator has tabled specific amendments to deal with this issue. I support her in that regard.

It is worth reflecting on whether the personal injuries guidelines committee, by contrast with the sentencing guidelines and information committee, should have some lay members or, if not, at least the ability to consult experts in this area.

I very much support the sentencing guidelines provision, the proposed section 82, and the committee. From my work on sentencing practice over a number of years and my research into the issue, I realise the importance of having a structure for the exercise of judicial discretion in sentencing. I hope the structured framework will have regard to recommendations such as those of the Oireachtas justice committee. Some years ago, other members of the committee, including Senator Conway, and I made various recommendations which implied that imprisonment should be a sanction of last resort. We referred to the need for greater consistency in sentencing and less reliance on short sentences, which achieve so little in terms of rehabilitation. Unfortunately, our system has been too dependent on them for too long for minor, non-violent offences. We recommended a move towards community-based sanctions instead. I am hopeful we will see really positive and progressive developments in sentencing as a result of this legislation, but I am interested in contrasting the sentencing guidelines and information committee's structure with that of the personal injuries guidelines committee. I welcome the latter, but I just want to know whether there will be a facility to consult experts.