Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise this morning the issue of jail sentences given to those convicted of burglary. There was a case recently in my own constituency in Galway where the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, appealed the sentence given to a man who had committed multiple burglaries including one in the home of an 83-year-old woman when she was present, which happened in mid-2020. The Court of Appeal agreed and added a year to the sentence. The man will now serve six years with the final 12 months suspended. In my opinion, this is a sentence of five years for multiple burglaries but, potentially, significantly less because we are all aware of reductions due to good behaviour, etc. Despite the increase in the sentence by the Court of Appeal this seems to be a very light sentence and not appropriate.