I move amendment No. 38:
In page 9, before section 10, to insert the following new section:
"10.—(1) Any person who has in his possession, whether lawfully or not, a controlled drug for the purpose of selling or otherwise supplying it to another, in contravention of regulations made under section 5 of the Misuse of Drugs Acts, 1977 and 1984, with intent to obtain substantial monetary benefit shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) For the purpose of this section "substantial monetary benefit" means a payment of £10,000 or more whether made in money or goods or otherwise.
(3) A Court or jury as the case may be shall be entitled to hear in evidence the opinion of any Garda or Customs Officer as to the street value of the controlled drug in question in any case notwithstanding any rule of law or evidence to the contrary.
(4) Section 15(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1977 shall apply to an offence under subsection (1) of this section.
(5) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) of this section, where it is proved that a person was in possession of a controlled drug he shall be presumed, until the court is satisfied to the contrary, to be in possession of that controlled drug with intent to obtain substantial monetary benefit.
(6) A person found guilty of an offence under subsection (1) of this section shall be liable on conviction to a fine of such amount as the court considers appropriate and/or at the discretion of the court to imprisonment for life or to such lesser period, subject to the provisions of subsection (7) of this section, as the court shall determine.
(7) Where a person (other than a child or young person) is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) of this section, the court shall in passing sentence specify as the minimum period of imprisonment to be served by that person a period of not less than 10 years imprisonment.
(8) The power conferred by section 23 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1951, to commute or remit a punishment shall not, in the case of a person serving a sentence on him on conviction of an offence under subsection (1) of this section, be exercisable before the expiration of the minimum period specified by the court under subsection (7) less any reduction of that period under subsection (9) of this section.
(9) The rules of practice whereby prisoners generally may earn remission of sentence by industry and good conduct shall apply in the case of a person serving a sentence passed on him on conviction of an offence under subsection (1) of this section and the minimum period specified by the court under subsection (6) shall be reduced by the amount of any remission which he has so earned.
(10) Any powers conferred by rules made under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1960 (including that section as applied by section 4 of the Prisons Act, 1970), to release temporarily a person serving a sentence of imprisonment shall not, in the case of a person serving a sentence passed on him on conviction of an offence under subsection (1) of this section, be exercisable during the period for which the commutation or remission of his punishment is prohibited by subsection (8) of this section unless for grave reasons of a humanitarian nature, and any release so granted shall be only of such limited duration as is justified by those reasons.
(11) A prosecution for an offence under subsection (1) of this section shall not be commenced without the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions."
This amendment would provide for a new offence of trading in drugs for substantial monetary gain. It would provide for a minimum 10 year sentence for drug pushers convicted of having drugs for sale or supply with a street value of £10,000 or more. Where a person is in possession of a substantial quantity of drugs for sale or supply, there is a need for a minimum sentence of imprisonment.
In 1977, the Houses of the Oireachtas provided a maximum sentence for drug pushers of 14 years imprisonment. That was in recognition of a growing drugs subculture in the country. In 1984, the Oireachtas recognised that this problem was getting worse and it increased the maximum sentence from 14 years to life imprisonment.
An examination of sentences handed down by the courts to drug pushers shows that the true intent of the Oireachtas is not being reflected in the sentences imposed on individuals by the courts. The most recent year for which statistics are available is 1993. In that year, 71 people were convicted of possession of a control drug with intent to supply. The following were the sentences imposed by the courts: in three of the cases the sentence handed down was less than three months; in six of the cases the sentence was three to six months; in 20 of the cases the sentence was between six and 12 months; in 29 of the cases the sentence was between one and two years; in four of the cases the sentence was between two and three years; in five of the cases the sentence was between three and five years; in three of the cases the sentence was between five and ten years; and in 1993, when it was clear that drugs had become a major problem, there was only one case in which the criminal courts imposed a sentence of more than ten years. It is abundantly clear from these statistics that the majority of convicted drug dealers received prison sentences of less than two years. It is abundantly evident that this sends out the wrong message to drug dealers.
My amendment would impose a minimum sentence of ten years imprisonment on drug dealers convicted of possession of drugs with a street value of £10,000 or more. It would mean that a court would have no alternative but to impose a sentence of at least ten years on a person convicted of the sale or supply of drugs for substantial monetary gain. It makes perfect sense. For too long, criminal laws on our statute books have not effected the gravity of our drugs problem. I suggest that no common law jurisdiction has laws on its statute books dealing with an issue such as this which are as soft and it is time our laws were strengthened.
I cannot see why any Member of the House would oppose this amendment. It does not deal with minor drug pushers but with people who play for big monetary stakes the price of which is other people's health and lives. In those circumstances, it behoves each Member of the House, irrespective of his or her political persuasion, to support the amendment.
For fear it would be said that it is not possible to provide for a minimum sentence in Irish law, let me be quite clear; it is possible. The Criminal Justice Act, 1990 was passed while Deputy Ray Burke was Minister for Justice and it provided for a minimum sentence of 40 years imprisonment for persons convicted of killing a garda. Accordingly, there is no constitutional problem with my amendment. It remains to be seen, however, whether the House has the political will to deal with people who deal in drugs for substantial monetary gain. In this respect, all I ask is that the punishment for this heinous offence in future would reflect the gravity of the offence.