David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

During my period as Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality and Defence in the past five years a subgroup of the committee produced a report on penal reform, with which I am sure Deputies are very familiar. While focusing on the need to address overcrowding in prisons, one of the recommendations made concerned the need to place the Parole Board on a statutory footing. The report, for which Senator Ivana Bacik was rapporteur, was published in March 2015. We travelled to Finland as part of the work involved where we visited prisoners because we had discovered its penal system was very advanced. One of the issues that arose from the report was the fact that the Parole Board here remains subject to political control and that this could result in a conflict with international human rights law. These were some of the points made in the report; therefore, the Bill is timely.

A very important factor in ensuring the successful reintegration of an offender into the community is his or her structured and supported release from prison. Again, this formed part of the report.

Given that the Parole Board focuses on those prisoners serving longer sentences, it is essential that its role continue to focus on the administration of the offender's sentence from the time he or she becomes eligible for parole. In this respect, under existing arrangements, the Parole Board informs the Tánaiste of a prisoner's progress to date and the degree to which he or she has engaged with various services. It is this type of information that can inform how best to proceed in the future administration of the sentence. In particular, it is important to maintain a role for the Parole Board whereby it can provide practical advice and support to assist offenders in completing their sentences and returning to the community. I again pay tribute to organisations such as Care After Prison; the Irish Association for the Social Integration of Offenders, IASIO; the Churchfield Community Trust and others which are doing a lot of work in supporting prisoners as they integrate back into the community.

I would like the role of the Parole Board, the Probation Service and others to continue in that regard.

The Bill is consistent with the primary concern of a parole board, which is the safety of the general public, and that the board operates under the obligation to be satisfied that the prisoner has addressed his or her offending behaviour and that any threat to the safety of the public or the community is minimised. The Bill provides, in its guiding principles, that the paramount consideration for the board in every case is the safety of the community. That said, I also support a more formal structure and basis for the Parole Board, and this Bill endeavours to provide that. Establishing a Parole Board on a statutory basis will ensure greater transparency and clarity at an operational level.

We must ensure an even transition from an administrative to a statutory basis for parole and the best way of achieving this transition should be clarified before the legislation comes into force. I also welcome the fact the Bill envisages a role for the victims of offenders who are under review. An appropriate role for victims in the process is essential. An important consideration for the existing Parole Board has been the involvement of victims in the review. The Parole Board takes into consideration the views of victims and the impact of the offence on their lives before it makes a recommendation to the Minister for Justice and Equality.

The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, highlighted some of the issues in the Bill which would require further consideration, and I do not plan to repeat them. However, addressing these matters and the extent, or otherwise, of their implications is the purpose of the legislative process and I look forward to contributing to the process. I am sure Deputy Ó Caoláin, the Sinn Féin Chairman of the justice committee, will help Fianna Fáil by facilitating and prioritising the Bill. In particular, it is important we ensure that any proposals are constitutionally robust and that, where a role for the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Executive should be maintained, it is maintained.

There has been a long-standing commitment on the part of successive Governments to putting the Parole Board on a statutory basis and that purpose will be widely supported inside and outside the House. As the Minister mentioned in her remarks, work has been ongoing in the Department of Justice and Equality on the formulation of similar proposals to create a statutory footing for the Parole Board. The provisions of the Bill and the debate today will inform that work.

I pay tribute to everybody who has contributed to the debate so far today. It has been positive, structured, reflective and very important. As I said in the Seanad earlier, I agree with comments by colleagues who stressed the need, when we deal with crime, to look at the other side of the equation, building up communities and youth services and ensuring people follow through on education. I could not agree more with what Deputy Robert Troy said earlier about the role of drugs in communities across the country. He is correct. It is very corrosive and damaging and we must do all we can to focus on it from every angle to try to minimise the ongoing damage.

Again, on behalf of the Minister and myself, I thank Deputy Jim O’Callaghan and the Members of this House. I also express my appreciation to Mr. John Costello, the chairman of the Parole Board, and the members of the board for their ongoing work in this area.

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