Legislation has been enacted to support the Garda and to tackle crime. Operation Thor has been very successful and I congratulate the gardaí who were involved in an incident in Freemount last Saturday evening. They waited for a gang from Cork who had travelled there. In fact, they had identified the house so successfully that they waited inside it for the gang. I congratulate them on their work, but it has come to my notice that one of the people arrested had been handed a 14 year sentence and a ten year concurrent sentence for robbery. Just five years later, the individual was free to terrorise citizens again. If we are serious about supporting the Garda and communities, we must tackle that and ensure that the sentences imposed for burglary or other offences are served to the full extent.

We must be careful in how we respond to individual decisions by judges in courts. There is a separation of powers that we must respect. However, on the broader sentencing policy issue, the Deputy should table a parliamentary question for the Minister for Justice and Equality.