Only three of 57 drug dealers convicted of possessing commercial quantities of drugs for sale last year were given a full mandatory minimum 10-year sentence, new figures obtained by The Irish Timesshow.
The Courts Service data shows the judiciary continued to opt out of mandatory sentences despite continued high levels of drug dealing and related gun murders and despite efforts by the Oireachtas to limit their sentencing discretion.
All of the 57 criminals were convicted under Section 15(A) of the Misuse of Drugs Act in Dublin last year. Figures were not available for the much smaller number of cases outside Dublin.
All 57 were caught in possession of drugs valued at €12,500 or more, deemed to be a commercial quantity. All were eligible for a mandatory 10-year sentence unless "exceptional and specific" circumstances applied.
This can include the circumstances under which a person became involved in drug dealing, their willingness to plead guilty at an early stage and to co-operate with the Garda.
The data obtained from the Courts Service gives no detail of the often complex circumstances of the offenders. Instead it sets out in tabular format the sentencing details of all cases.
Judge Katherine Delahunt presided over 30 of the 57 cases before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. She imposed the full 10-year sentence in one case, ordering a review of the sentence after five years. In one other case she imposed a sentence of 12 years, suspending four years.
In all of the other cases she imposed a sentence of less than 10 years. The average sentence she imposed in those cases, with suspended portions deducted, was just over three years and three months.
When remission is taken into account it means the prisoners sentenced by Judge Delahunt would, on average, spend two years and five months in jail.
Nine other judges presided over the other cases, all of which were dealt with in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The only two other 10-year sentences, with no portions suspended, were imposed by Judge Thomas Teehan. He handled two further cases, imposing sentences of five and six years.
Judge Desmond Hogan handled four cases, imposing sentences of between two and 10 years, suspending two years in each case. Judge Michael White imposed between two and five years in five cases. In a sixth case he handed down a sentence of five years, all suspended.
Judge Frank O'Donnell handled two cases, imposing sentences of seven and six years. Judge Donagh McDonagh imposed two 10-year terms, suspending five and six years of each. He handled three other cases imposing two six-year sentences and one eight-year term.
Judge Miriam Reynolds handled two cases, imposing two five-year terms, with one fully suspended. Judge Patricia Ryan handled one case, imposing a four-year term with three suspended. Judge Joseph Matthews also handled one case, imposing a 12-year sentence, with three years suspended.
Former minister for justice Michael McDowell said earlier this year judges were reducing sentences so often that the practice had become the norm, rather than an "exceptional" event, as envisaged under the original Criminal Justice Act, 1999. He tried to curb the judiciary's discretion in both the Criminal Justice Act 2006 and with the Criminal Justice Bill 2007.
