The degree of culpability and other circumstances will be taken into account in the enforcement of any "zero tolerance" crime policy, according to the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue.
In an address to the Galway Chamber of Commerce on the controversial policy, Mr O'Donoghue said the Government was committed to "total intolerance" of drug dealers and other serious criminals.
In dealing with less serious crime, however, existing legal conventions would continue to apply. Law enforcement which took no account of the circumstances of the offender, and the degree of culpability involved, would be "alien to our system of justice".
"Every day, decisions on prosecutions are taken which have regard to a multiplicity of factors, including the seriousness of the offence and the intent and culpability of the offender," Mr O'Donoghue said.
Similarly, the courts also took these factors into account in arriving at verdicts or in deciding sentences.
"There is no question of interfering with that fundamental approach. By the same token, where the seriousness of the offence, evil intent and culpability are beyond doubt, there should be no question of the appropriate response, and that is zero tolerance."
Any suggestion that people who parked illegally, or committed other less serious offences, would be sent to prison as a result of the "zero tolerance" policy were "as fanciful as it is in fact nonsensical", Mr O'Donoghue continued.
"At no stage was it ever stated that, in relation to less serious offences, there should be additional penalties or sanctions. But what we have said, and said quite clearly, is that where there is a need for additional sanctions . . . those sanctions, those penalties and that legislation will be made law."
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Mr O'Donoghue said the Criminal Justice Bill was at "an advanced stage" and would be published in the next few weeks.
One key change that would speed up the operation of the courts would be the ending of the accused's automatic right to a preliminary investigation.
Research showed that only in a "miniscule" number of cases did a preliminary investigation result in a case being struck out. It was an "outmoded" provision which contributed to the backlog of court cases.
"This procedure will be eliminated, and an individual who feels that there is no prima facie case will be entitled to make that case at the court of trial. I anticipate that this will speed up criminal trials considerably," he said.
A minimum sentence of 10 years would be introduced in serious drug trafficking cases, where the amount of drugs involved was worth at least £10,000. While remission of sentences would continue to apply, he hoped to forbid any temporary releases for people convicted under this measure.
The "third leg" of the legislation involved giving courts powers to examine the assets of convicted drug dealers, with a view to freezing or seizing them as appropriate. The court involved would first conduct a preliminary inquiry to establish if the value of the assets warranted a full-scale inquiry.
Mr O'Donoghue said he was encouraged by provisional crime figures which showed a 12 per cent drop in crime levels in the first eight months of the year. He hoped the introduction of legislation to combat child pornography would help combat the worrying 20 per cent increase in rapes.
He said he did not accept there was widespread public cynicism about the concept of zero tolerance, when a Garda investigation had not followed up the revelations contained in the McCracken report.
"Any allegations of a criminal nature made against any individual in this country are investigated by the Garda Siochana, and that will continue to be the case," he said.
A commitment in the Programme for Government to increase the number of prison spaces by 1,000 was well on the way to its implementation.
"With a small bit of luck, we will exceed our target of providing 1,000 places within two years of taking office," Mr O'Donoghue said.