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 Colm BrophyColm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I listened to what Deputy Clare Daly had to say there. I never make any argument facetiously. I will go back to the point of my intervention, which is quite interesting. What it has teased out in subsequent contributions from Deputy Clare Daly is what was being talked about, not merely a generic community representative but a specific type of community representative. Others might have a view that the community is victims of crime which have a particular view on what has happened to their life or their families lives, or someone like that, would be as entitled to a community representative of a similar nature on the parole board. We are trying to strike a balance in terms of the membership of the board. There is a good balance outlined, by the Bill and by some of the proposed amendments, but we need to be careful that we do not seem to be, by a careful process of how we select the board, almost creating a prejudged outcome for what the parole board will do. I renew my reservation about the broadness of the term "community representative" without qualifying it in some way.