Serious crimes such as burglaries of the homes of people aged over 65 should merit 10-year minimum prison sentences, a conference on policing held in Malahide heard yesterday.
The conference, "The Challenge of Change: Policing 2000" was organised by the Association of Chief Superintendents and is part of a three-yearly series of conferences begun in 1996.
The president of the association, Chief Supt Tom Monaghan, in his address to the conference, called for the introduction of more mandatory sentencing for serious offences such as the burglary of homes of the elderly. Such offences should merit a minimum 10-year sentence.
He said the Association of Chief Superintendents was concerned that fear of prison was no longer a deterrent to lawbreakers.
He said: "It is frequently alleged that sentences in Irish courts are inconsistent and depend very much on the individual judge's personal approach and are without a guiding policy. The Irish courts have consistently refrained from having anything to do with mandatory sentencing guidelines.
"It is the firm view of my association that this approach to sentencing is not working or serving the public interest well. We believe that mandatory sentences for a much wider range of serious offences should be provided by statute.
"It must be recognised and, indeed, it is clearly manifest from bitter experience that society in Ireland no longer has any faith in the notion of rehabilitation as a practical proposition except perhaps for juvenile offenders.
"Indeed, the prospect of rehabilitation is non-existent for most of our prison population. This is the reality despite the excellent efforts of prison staff and the probation and welfare service."
He added: "My association firmly believes that we must now have preventative sentencing - that is a sentence that will deter a prisoner from re-offending and a sentence the prospect of which, will discourage law-breaking. Anything less is a sham."
He said the Minister for Justice had introduced mandatory 10-year sentences for anyone caught with more than £10,000-worth of illegal drugs.
The chief superintendent added: "I believe an equally good case can be made for a mandatory 10 or more years' imprisonment for a person convicted of breaking into (burglary) of a home or place of residence, occupied at the time solely by a person or persons over the age of 65 years.
"Surely our elderly deserve this support and protection from the gangs of marauders who travel the country preying on those who are unable to defend themselves and who suffer horrendous injuries and sometimes death at the hands of those cowardly thugs, as recent events have shown."
The conference was addressed by the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue. He said that while the overall crime situation had improved significantly the Government was not easing up in the fight against crime and that there was no room for complacency.
Yesterday's conference was also addressed by the London Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner, Mr John Grieve, who spoke about "policing diversity". Mr Grieve is director of the Met's Racial and Violent Crime Task Force.