I have to admit to being mystified by sentencing practice in Ireland, which might not be surprising as I know even less about sentencing policy or plea bargaining (read "early guilty plea" here).
My understanding is that the prosecution cannot refer to previous convictions during a trial and that these only come into play when the judge hands down the sentence after victim impact statements and pleas on behalf of the accused.
In other jurisdictions the serial or repeat offender, "three-time loser" in TV-speak, seems to be subject to the maximum tariff where the current crime is viewed as the latest in a sequence of similar offences (assault, robbery, rape, embezzlement, or whatever).
Surely when sentencing in this country judges should not have to try and second-guess the appeals processes when handing down a sentence and be sure that their colleagues will support them in their view that society needs protection from the repeat offender?
Alternatively, for serial offenders, what about making it a condition of any discount off a sentence, that a reoffender must immediately serve the discounted time in prison with no possibility of remission before facing charges relating to the new offence, including any plea-bargained discounts?
I am not trying to bring about a situation where an offender's civil and human rights are trampled on, but there has to be some means of balancing their rights, which seem to usurped all others recently, with the rights of the victims of horrendous crimes and society generally.