asked the Minister for Justice whether, in view of the recent decision in the Central Criminal Court that a person convicted of murder may be sentenced to any period of imprisonment or penal servitude short of penal servitude for life, he proposes to introduce fresh legislation to deal with the situation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Court Sentences for Murder.
31.
The object of the Criminal Justice Bill which became law last year was to substitute, in non-capital murder cases, an automatic sentence of penal servitude for life for the former automatic sentence of death, and it was debated in the Oireachtas on that basis. The Act has been operated accordingly in the two cases which came before the Central Criminal Court prior to the recent case to which the Deputy refers.
I understand that in the two earlier cases appeals to the Court of Criminal Appeal against conviction and sentence are pending and will be heard in the near future. I propose to await the outcome of the appeals before deciding what action, if any, may then be called for.