Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 24 May 2017

Select Committee on Justice and Equality

Parole Bill 2016: Committee Stage

9:00 am

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

I thank the Chairman for fixing Committee Stage for this morning. I acknowledge the role the Tánaiste has played in dealing with this Private Members' Bill, the broad principle of which she has accepted and on which she is happy to work. I am conscious of the fact that I have had engagement with the Department of Justice and Equality, which I welcome. A lot of amendments have been tabled. Deputies Mick Wallace and Clare Daly have tabled amendments, as have I. In fairness to the Tánaiste, she has adopted the sensible approach that we will let the amendments go through and that the main Government amendments will come through on Report Stage. We may also have further amendments to propose on Report Stage, albeit probably not be too many. This is a worthwhile process. The most important point is not that it is my Bill or anyone else's but that we get it right. I am not proprietorial about the Bill and acknowledge the work the Department has done on it. We all agree that the legislation is long overdue. Many of the amendments proposed will help the Bill, but I am conscious that we will get a better overview of it when we see the Government's amendments on Report Stage. While I will not hold the Department to a timetable, we are all anxious that the amendments be brought forward as quickly as possible. However, I am conscious that there is still work to be done.

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