Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 30:

In page 12, line 29, to delete “or”.

Section 14 deals with the powers of parole panels. These amendments seek to provide for reports to be obtained from a psychiatrist or other medical practitioner. In the original draft, I had linked psychologist and psychiatrist together but it is safer to link psychiatrist with other medical practitioner. That is provided for in amendment No. 31.

Amendment No. 33 gives the power to the parole board to procure from the courts service at transcript of the sentencing comments of a judge.

One could understand why the parole board would want to hear what a sentencing judge had to say at the time of sentence. Unless the board has the statutory power to obtain that transcript, it will not be able to do so.

Amendment No. 35 provides a protection to a psychologist, psychiatrist or other medical practitioner who has been asked by the parole board to conduct a report on the applicant. In this instance, it will be able to secure the medical notes on the parole candidate without the medical practitioner of the parole candidate saying that he or she has no authority to release them. Obviously, if the parole candidate does not want to provide the medical notes, they will not be provided. However, it would be necessary to provide the medical notes in order for the parole application to be considered. That is the basis of those amendments, which make sense. This was brought to my attention by a psychiatrist who works in the area of treatment of persons who have committed criminal offences and who are under psychiatric care.

Amendment No. 38 provides further protection for a medical practitioner in regard to giving evidence and producing the treatment notes concerning the parole candidate. If this was not provided on a statutory basis, a doctor may say that he or she cannot give that information because of the confidentiality he or she owes to the patient. However, this is dependent on the parole candidate giving his or her permission.