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

In the Bill as drafted and passed through Committee Stage, section 22 had a provision dealing with parole orders, section 24 dealt with variation of parole orders, and section 25 dealt with the revocation of parole orders. In many respects there is not much difference between that and the new sections the Minister is proposing, which deal with parole orders, refusal of application and variation of parole order. One of the important things is that we have to preserve and put into statute the power of the Parole Board to set conditions on granting parole. We need to recall that parole is granting somebody permission to be out of prison. They have been sentenced to a life sentence; parole is letting them out, but it can be on condition. One of the things I had in the original Bill which I am pleased to see the Minister has kept in his amendment is that persons being released on parole can be subject to a condition that they have to stay away from a particular person or place or refrain from having contact with a particular person. That is not too arduous from a prisoner's point of view but from the point of view of a victim of crime, it is extremely important. In the case of somebody who was sentenced for life for rape, the Parole Board could understandably want to ensure that this person stays away from the victim of his rape. It is important that we preserve that as a condition.

The amendments also deal with how refusal of an application for parole shall be effected and the variation of a parole order. Persons out on parole are out with the permission of the State; the life sentence still remains hanging over them. If they breach the terms of their parole, we need to ensure that there is some sanction for that. If they breach a condition of the parole order, there must be provision such that they can be brought back in or held to account for it. I think they are preserved in these amendments and I will be supporting them.

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