The Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Alan Shatter TD, today published the Annual Report of the Parole Board for 2012.
In publishing the Report, the Minister said "I would like to thank the Board's Chairman, Mr. John Costello and the members for their Report. The Parole Board plays an important role in evaluating prisoner suitability for release and contributes to the protection of society by facilitating their reintegration into society, which is much valued and appreciated. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the work of the Board in helping to encourage all prisoners eligible to participate in the parole process."
Minister Shatter continued, “I previously announced my intention to enact legislation to place the Parole Board on a statutory footing which I believe will help to strengthen the Board and improve its functions. Decisions have to be finalised on exactly what role a statutory Parole Board should play, what powers it should have, and how it should fit into the overall criminal justice system.
“I have also appointed a group to carry out a Strategic Review of Penal Policy who are examining all aspects of penal policy including remission, parole and other release mechanisms from prison. I expect them to report early in the new year. When I have considered their recommendations, I will bring proposals forward to Government for a statutory Parole Board."
The Parole Board's principal function is to advise the Minister on the administration of long term prison sentences in respect of prisoners who are serving sentences greater than eight years. The Board, by way of recommendation to the Minister, advises of the prisoner's progress to date, the degree to which the prisoner has engaged with the various therapeutic services and how best to proceed with the future administration of the sentence. All recommendations are considered in full when making the final decision on sentence management.
As highlighted in their report, the total caseload of the Board has increased from 205 in 2011 to 268 in 2012 - a combination of new cases and cases at second or subsequent review stage. The Board report that they reviewed the cases of 91 prisoners in 2012, with the same number of recommendations made to the Minister. The majority of those recommendations were accepted in full by the Minister.
The Board has also tried to encourage more prisoners to participate in the Parole process and has met with groups of prisoners to explain the parole process. The Chairman hopes to visit every prison over a period of 18 months and to publish an information leaflet on parole for the benefit of prisoners.
The Chairman is hosting an inaugural conference of the Parole Board which is taking place on 25 October, 2013. Discussions will focus on the parole process in Ireland, the way forward and experiences from a number of different jurisdictions including Norther Ireland, Scotland, Finland and Canada.
The report is available on the Department's website www.justice.ie
23 October 2013
ENDS
Note for Editors
The Parole Board is an independent non-statutory body established by the Government to advise the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence on the management of those serving long term prison sentences. It was established on an administrative basis in April, 2001 replacing the then Sentence Review Group.
The Board is currently chaired by Mr. John Costello who was appointed on 26 July, 2011.