Plans to sentence drug dealers to community service instead of a spell of imprisonment is “laughable”, Aontú has argued. 

Ahead of the Christmas break, Justice Minister Jim O’Callagh secured Cabinet support to publish the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025.

If enacted by the Oireachtas, the bill would oblige judges to consider community service instead of prison sentences that would previously have merited jail terms of up to 24 months. 

The reform comes in response to years of overcrowding in Irish prisons, with some inmates even forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor for prolonged periods of time. 

On The Hard Shoulder, Aontú TD Paul Lawless of Aontú described the proposal as “very concerning”. 

 “At a time when the crime rate is rising, we are seeing now the Minister for Justice adopting a very soft approach on crime,” he said. 

“This bill obliges the courts to consider community service up to where a custodial sentence is 24 months. 

“It goes on further to state that judges must actually provide reasons if they decide not to impose a community service.” 

Prison cell bars. Picture by: Alamy.com.

The Mayo TD continued that people jailed for two years are not in for minor offences which merit a slap on the wrist. 

“We are talking about drug dealing, we are talking about serious thefts, we’re talking about burglaries, we’re talking about assaults causing harm,” he said. 

“If you consider drug dealing and what that does in communities, it’s not a minor offence. 

“It fuels a deadly trade that’s linked to hundreds of lives each and every year.” 

Deputy Lawless added that the policy is “not about the societal good” but about prison capacity - or more specifically, the lack of it. 

“To suggest that sending a drug dealer who is causing havoc in communities to the local Tidy Town to do some community service over a custodial sentence, I believe is laughable,” he said.

Main image: A prisoner in his cell behind bars in prison. Picture  by: Alamy.com.