Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I propose to insert the following: ", signed and dated" and "The decision must be provided directly to the prisoner within a reasonable timeframe." It is a matter of accountability and not wasting time. Supporting the timely communication of parole board decisions to candidates for parole and other relevant parties is vital. According to the Irish Penal Reform Trust, there can be delays of up to nine months before a candidate for parole has a decision communicated to him or her, which is more than frustrating for the prisoners who want to act on the parole board's recommendations. For example, sometimes it might recommend particular training or treatment. If the communication of a decision is delayed by months, it is a little mad and not very fair.

On the issue of accountability and the keeping of records and so on, the committee does not need me to tell it that we do not have enough of it in Ireland. We are considering bringing forward a Bill to make it compulsory to keep minutes, for example. A simple example would be the decision made by NAMA to shred the minutes of the meeting of 13 December which was crucial in the final stages of the setting up of Project Eagle. Greater accountability is required across the board in how we do things, but the point about a prisoner receiving information in good time, surely, is quite practical.