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

The Minister is correct when he said the essence of what was in Part 3 of my Bill has been retained in the amendments. Under Part 3 of the legislation, the parole process is set out. In the Bill, as originally drafted, we included sections dealing with guiding principles, criteria for parole, eligibility and consideration for parole. In many respects, the Minister's draft has it in a very similar format. There is eligibility for parole, which is dealt with in the new section 24. The Minister mentioned a point that was in the earlier draft I prepared which stated that people convicted of a life sentence would not eligible to apply for parole until they had served 12 years. That is an important provision and I welcome the fact the Minister has retained it in his proposal. We talk about the victims of crime and it is unfair on the family of somebody who has been murdered to be told after having served seven years the person who murdered their family member can apply for parole. An application for parole can start when a person has served seven years but in reality there is no prospect of that person getting parole. If we consider any of the decisions of the Parole Board, it is clear that nobody who is sentenced to life imprisonment gets parole after serving seven years. It also has the effect of misleading a person who is serving a life sentence into believing he or she has a prospect of getting out of prison after serving seven years. He or she does not. It is important we set on a statutory basis that one cannot apply for parole until such time as one has served 12 years, if one is sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Minister deals in amendment No. 35 with how a prisoner will be informed of his or her entitlement to apply for parole. We know from the new section 25 that the Prison Service will notify the board in writing of the eligibility of a person for parole and once the Irish Prison Service is informed of that the parole applicant shall be entitled to be informed of it so that he or she can bring forward their application for parole. That is a sensible way of doing it. It takes pressure off the prisoner in terms of trying to find out when they can apply for parole. Now a prisoner will be told by the Prison Service that he or she is eligible for parole and an application can be made. Section 26 sets out how the application for parole will arise. Section 27 deals with the decision on parole, which is an important decision. In the first instance, we will be only dealing with people who have life sentences imposed upon them. There are conflicting rights at stake. First, there is the right of the community to be protected, which is the fundamental priority. The system is stating that a person who is given a life sentence should go to prison for life but in reality that does not happen because we hold out the prospect of rehabilitation and redemption. After serving 12 years a person may apply for parole. It may be that in the vast majority of cases a person will not be granted parole having served 12 years. As the Parole Board currently operates, the likely time one must serve before one can get out from a life sentence is of the order of 18 years. We need to ensure the process is properly considered. I welcome the fact we will have a statutory regime in place so that the person applying for parole and the families of victims of murder can have a say in respect of it. I will be supporting these amendments.

As the Minister said, Deputy Connolly's amendment is not necessary because under the provision of the section I referenced there will be an obligation on the Prison Service to inform the Parole Board of when a prisoner is eligible for parole and the Parole Board must then tell the prisoner.

See this speech in context