Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) (Amendment) (Work Equipment) Bill 2026: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-18
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Noel O'Donovan (FG), Nominated by the Taoiseach

Like other speakers, I commend Senator Murphy on bringing forward this Private Members' Bill. It is very smart legislation. It is very much thinking outside the box. Like other speakers, I would really appeal to the Minister to consider the merits of this legislation. In some ways, I speak from lived experience on this matter. My father and uncles are builders. I would have grown up on a building site on my summer holidays, working on roofs, putting up scaffolding or doing the hard work, as we speak of it in rural Ireland. I also have experience from my years as a member of An Garda Síochána in the element of investigating and prosecuting those who would have been involved in such crimes.
Speaking from my period on a building site, a builder's or carpenter's tools are like his left and right arm. It is not in some ways about the monetary value of it. It is what that tool can do. To lose that tool or have that tool stolen is quite serious to that person. Much has been spoken about the construction sector and how we need to build more homes. We really need to think outside the box in looking at this legislation.
We are seeing theft in rural Ireland and in west Cork. Thankfully, my father and uncles would not have seen the theft of tools, but we do see theft in parts of rural Ireland. There is cattle rustling going on in west Cork and this type of theft is no different.
In An Garda Síochána, as the Minister will know from his period in the courts, there are frustrations at bringing these types of cases to the courts in terms of the sentencing. There are genuine frustrations. A garda tries to do his or her work, puts the hours in and takes the CCTV material and statements, and then in court the defendant is left with a sentence not befitting the work and hours that were put into it, never mind the devastating effects the crime will have had on the injured party, or the 26 or 28 convictions the person standing in the box might have. That is where we need to think about this legislation a bit differently. We need to do things differently. A stand-alone offence has been mentioned and should be examined. This is a common-sense and pragmatic Bill. I commend Senator P.J. Murphy and call on the Minister to think outside the box.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-18