Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The argument is that the focus should be on the present rather than the past to give some credence to the notion that rehabilitation has value and is possible. The emphasis should primarily be on the assessment of the current risk associated with the person before the parole board. When the Carlisle committee reported in 1988 on the parole system in England and Wales, one of its key recommendations was that a parole board should concentrate exclusively on the risk of a prisoner committing a serious offence, if released. The report stated a board should not engage in re-sentencing by considering the seriousness of the offence and aggravating circumstances.