Victor Boyhan: Supports Rural Crime Bill but Warns of Legal Limits
Victor Boyhan addresses a private members' bill proposed by Senator PJ Murphy, Mark Duffy and Mike Keneally, expressing support for its intent to tackle theft and rural crime while flagging legal and constitutional concerns. He asks the Minister to clarify the technical implications of introducing mandatory sentencing and separation-of-powers issues.
Summary of remarks: Victor Boyhan thanks the bill's sponsors and affirms the need to tackle crime in rural and urban communities, noting the severe impact on sole traders, farmers and small businesses when machinery and tools are stolen. He stresses he supports the bill's principle but will not overlook legal complications.
Legal concerns: Boyhan warns of potential technical legal difficulties in the bill, in particular the introduction of a mandatory sentencing regime and questions over legislative scope and the separation of powers with the judiciary. He says he awaits the Minister's response to explain how these issues will be addressed.
Practical consequences: He highlights practical harm to sole traders and farming communities who lose expensive machinery, and suggests there may be alternative legislative strands that achieve the same protective effect without the same legal risk.
Next steps and context: Boyhan offers conditional support and asks colleagues to scrutinise the bill carefully. He invites the Minister to guide the Seanad on how to proceed so that the objective of tougher action on rural crime can be achieved within proper legal boundaries.
Summary of remarks: Victor Boyhan thanks the bill's sponsors and affirms the need to tackle crime in rural and urban communities, noting the severe impact on sole traders, farmers and small businesses when machinery and tools are stolen. He stresses he supports the bill's principle but will not overlook legal complications.
Legal concerns: Boyhan warns of potential technical legal difficulties in the bill, in particular the introduction of a mandatory sentencing regime and questions over legislative scope and the separation of powers with the judiciary. He says he awaits the Minister's response to explain how these issues will be addressed.
Practical consequences: He highlights practical harm to sole traders and farming communities who lose expensive machinery, and suggests there may be alternative legislative strands that achieve the same protective effect without the same legal risk.
Next steps and context: Boyhan offers conditional support and asks colleagues to scrutinise the bill carefully. He invites the Minister to guide the Seanad on how to proceed so that the objective of tougher action on rural crime can be achieved within proper legal boundaries.
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Transcript
Thank you Comhairleach. Well firstly I'd like to thank Senator PJ Murphy, Mark Duffy and Mike Keneally for proposing this bill. It's very simple in terms of winning our two sections to it. We all know that we want to be tough on the crime, we all know we want to tackle crime particularly in rural communities but we have to be practical as well and while I support the essence of this bill I think there are difficulties in this bill. I haven't heard what the Minister is going to say. I think I might guess what he might be saying but it wouldn't be right for me to guess what the Minister might be saying but what occurs to me there are technical legal difficulties with this bill and we of course we have the separation of powers and the judiciary. We've had previous legislation in relation to the administration of the powers of the judiciary and there's a proposal here to introduce a mandatory sentencing regime and I don't know if that is in the scope of the legislature so I'd be interested to hear what the Minister has to say about that. So I'd have some concerns while I fully support it and I know you're very animated about it and very committed to it and you're a rural senator and a rural councillor so you understand but it doesn't necessarily happen in rural, it happens in urban, it happens everywhere. I've seen too many sole traders that have come out in the morning and found their truck raided and all their machinery you know it's very well having skills and a pair of hands but without your very expensive machinery you're really set back and particularly for small sole traders it's a real difficulty. We see it in farming communities, we see it in a whole range of issues so I'm not going to delay really too much other than say I support the principle of the bill. I believe there are technical issues that I'm not equipped fully to talk about but there are really guidelines on that Minister and in terms of the legal implications in terms of bringing in a mandatory sentencing through legislation but I'm sure you'll guide us through that no doubt when you address the issues. So I think other than that as I say I'm supportive of it, I think it's a significant piece of legislation. There may be other strands to give the same effect to what you are trying to do here as senators without going through this bill so I simply they're just some loose remarks that I'm making but I'm supportive of it but I believe there are potentially legal impediments to enacting this piece of legislation as presented to us here tonight.