Written Answers. - Temporary Release of Prisoners.
Jim O'Keeffe
Ceist:
26
Mr. J. O'Keeffe
asked the
Minister for Justice
whether she personally authorises each decision of early release from prison or delegates this function; if this function is delegated, to whom it is delegated; the procedures involved in such decisions; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
Michael McDowell
Ceist:
52
Mr. M. McDowell
asked the
Minister for Justice
if she will establish an independent review body for the purpose of making decisions in relation to early and temporary release from detention centres; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 26 and 52 together. The statutory authority for temporary releases of sentenced prisoners rests with the Minister for Justice under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1960. In many cases I make the decision personally but in most cases decisions are made by members of the staff under general guidelines approved by me. It would be inappropriate to disclose the names of the staff members involved. As Minister I, of course, accept responsibility for all decisions relating to temporary releases.
The House may be assured that temporary releases are carefully considered with due regard to all relevant matters including the nature of offence, behaviour while in custody and the safety of the public. With regard to the suggestion that decisions concerning temporary release should be made by an independent review body, I should first of all make the point that the existing position is that recommendations in the case of most longer sentences are made by such a body. One of the important recommendations in the Whitaker report was that a procedure be established to review sentences of five years or more and indeterminate sentences. A committee — known as the Sentence Review Group — was established about three years ago to review sentences of seven years or longer, including most life sentences, and has been working very satisfactorily since that time. I am very glad to avail of this opportunity to pay tribute to the very valuable work performed by this group which is, incidentally, chaired by Dr. Whitaker himself.
I am looking at the possibility that this group's remit might be extended by lowering the number of years an offender must serve in order to qualify for review — say, a reduction from seven to six or perhaps five years. However, I am very conscious of the fact that the review group is already heavily burdened and I would certainly need to discuss the staffing and other implications of any such change with them in advance of any decision.
I have also, of course, announced that I am conducting a full review of prisons policy and practice and that this will include a review of the temporary release system. While I do not wish to prejudice the outcome of this review, I would have to say that I am not at this time convinced that there is a need to create a separate review body to deal with cases where offenders are serving shorter sentences. Temporary releases are, in effect, our system of parole and experience elsewhere shows that irrespective of whether parole decisions, or indeed parole recommendations, happen to be made by a separate board, or otherwise, a percentage of releases will give rise to controversy. In all cases the basic information concerning offenders who might be considered for early release or parole comes from the same sources that is prison staff and others who are in a position to provide assessments on matters such as risk to the community. After that, it is essentially a matter of reaching a judgment. This is by no means an exact science and, as I say, I am not convinced at this time that there is a case for setting up a separate bureaucracy — because that is what is involved — to advise on or decide whether persons serving shorter sentences should be granted temporary release.
