View/Open - CORA - University College Cork

15 Misuse of Drugs Act 1977) and offences relating to the unlawful taking of motor
vehicles (Section 112 Road Traffic Act 1961).
It is important to note that recidivist offenders who were sentenced to imprisonment for
short periods on conviction, for small scale crimes of larceny and criminal damage
combined, took up a highly disproportionate number of prison places in conjunction with
another group of offenders who were sentenced to prison perhaps for the first time for
relatively minor offences (McBride 1982:46-50). The prison system was accordingly
weighed down with offenders serving short terms of imprisonment imposed by the
District Courts. When the matter was discussed in the Dail during the debate on the
Criminal Justice (Community Service) Bill the Minister for Justice, Mr Noonan, had
considerable difficultyfocusing attention on the specific measure of communityservice, so
great was the agitation on all sides of the House with the “crime-wave” which was allegedly
“sweeping the Country”. Dr. Woods T.D. spoke of “a breakdown of law and order of
unprecedentedproportions” (Dail Debates vol. 341, col. 1337, 20 th April, 1983).
The Minister for Justice while acknowledging the Deputy’s concerns relating to the
increase in the crime-rate and in particular the commission of offences by offenders while
on bail andearlyrelease sought to focus the debate on Communityservice thus:
“Some Deputies criticised this Bill as the solution to the crime problem, but it was
never put forward in that context. I see it as only one instalment in a series of
activities which must be taken quickly if we are to combat the very serious crime
situation facingus.” (Dail Debates vol. 342, col. 319, 4 th May, 1983)
It maybe observed that the minister was focused upon community service as a method of
easing prison overcrowding while the deputies were more exercised with the perceived
growth in criminality in general. The minister described the introduction of community
service as but one instalment in any“solution” to the problem of the growth in crime.
2. Prison Overcrowding
The increase in the crime rates was quickly reflected in increased rates of incarceration of
offenders by courts particularly by way of short-term imprisonment for relatively petty
125