Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 December 2020
62. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Justice the timeline for the implementation of the Parole Act 2019; when she plans to have a new statutory parole board in operation; if she has appointed a CEO for this board; the number of staff she plans to appoint to service the board; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41281/20]
View answerI wish to assure the Deputy that I am fully committed to establishing the new Parole Board as soon as possible on a statutory footing to take account of the concerns of victims and survivors
As you may be aware, the establishment of the Board has been identified as a priority action for my Department and aligns with the Programme for Government commitment to ensure full implementation of the Parole Act 2019, including the establishment of an independent statutory Parole Board as early as possible.
I am pleased to say that a dedicated project team has been appointed to progress the key milestones required for commencement of the Act and establishment of the Parole Board. The team is working actively to progress the selection of the board members, the appointment of a chief executive and of staff, the development of legal processes and a legal aid scheme, as well as securing an appropriate premises for the new body and a project board has been established in my Department to oversee this important work.
The Government has supported this commitment with funding allocated for the Parole Board for 2021 of €1.3 million, which is more than double previous allocations. This substantial increase will allow for the implementation of the model of parole as envisaged under the Parole Board Act.
The new statutory parole board will considerably improve the system as it currently operates. As mentioned, the Parole Act 2019 puts the parole board on an independent statutory footing and it sets out clear and transparent criteria for how the board will reach its decisions, which will be independent of the Minister of the day.
The Act also increases the length of the sentence which must be served by life sentenced prisoners before they are even eligible to be considered for parole, from 7 to 12 years.
In this context, I feel it is important to note that while under the current system prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment for murder are eligible to come before the Parole Board after 7 years imprisonment, in reality over the past 10 years, the average sentence served before a life sentenced prisoner is released on parole, is eighteen years, and in 2019 it was 20 years.
While the model set out in the Parole Act 2019 is complex, and requires a significant amount of planning to allow for its establishment, including detailed preparatory work to analyse and document the new legal processes that will give effect to the provisions of the Act, the work already done and the significant increase in funding allocated under Budget 2021 will allow the project board to take its work forward and move from the planning to the implementation phase of the 2019 Act.
To support this work further, additional staff have been assigned to implement this project on a priority basis, in addition to the seven existing Parole Board staff who will continue to support the existing board.
A critical path for delivery of this significant priority project is currently being developed with a view to ensuring full commencement of the Parole Act, which will be achieved in 2021.
