I move:
That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for the establishment of an independent parole board and the release on parole of certain persons found guilty of criminal offences and serving sentences of imprisonment or committed or remanded in custody.
The Bill is designed to put the informal Parole Board on a statutory basis. It will have the effect of removing from the Minister for Justice and Equality the power of granting parole and giving it to an independent statutory entity. It will also, for the first time, allow the victims of crime to be heard in respect of the process as to whether parole should be granted.
