Sentencing Policy
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-19
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

Sentencing is a very complex area of a judge's function. Generally, what we do in this House is set out what the maximum sentence can be. Sometimes we put in a mandatory sentence - such as in the case for murder where there is the common law mandatory sentence of life in prison - but, in general, we set maximum sentences and give leeway to the Judiciary to decide where to go.
Obviously, no offence is going to be similar. No offender is going to be similar, as Deputy O'Flynn will be aware, even in the area of child sexual abuse. Obviously, somebody who is a repeat offender would merit a much stronger custodial sentence than a person who was convicted for the first time.
I am not proposing to bring forward legislation at this stage to amend the provisions in respect of sentencings that are contained within the 1998 and 2017 legislation but it is important to be aware that under the sentencing guidelines, we can and hope to see the Judiciary set out guidelines for certain types of criminal offences.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-19