James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the question. The Parole Board was established as a statutory body under the Parole Act 2019 on 31 July 2021, replacing the former interim parole board which had been in place since 2001. Under the Act, victims now have a right to engage in the parole process.  Victim engagement is an important element of the work, and the board is currently engaging with 291 victims in relation to 105 applications for parole. I understand no victim details are available in some cases and, in others, the victims do not wish to participate in the process, which is very much their right.

When a victim chooses to register with the Parole Board, the staff of the board work with them to facilitate their submission. I understand the board’s written materials were developed in conjunction with the National Adult Literacy Agency, NALA, and are written in plain English. Where at all possible, the Parole Board facilitates a victim making a submission at a time and place that suits them and in a format that suits them. The Parole Board public information campaign to inform and engage with victims, My Voice Counts, was launched on Wednesday, 23 November 2022 on radio, print and digital platforms. The campaign will seek to inform the public, and especially victims of serious crime, about the Parole Board, its work and the rights of victims within the new parole process. Both victims and parole applicants have access to legal representation under the Act, and the Parole Board has established a legal aid scheme and formed a panel to provide this legal assistance. I am informed that 221 people serving prison sentences who are eligible to apply for parole have applied to date. The Parole Board wrote to all applicants outlining the process and informing them of their proposed review date earlier this year. Representatives of the board have also held information sessions for life-sentenced prisoners in all the relevant prisons and will do so on a rolling basis.

The board, which comprises 13 members, held its first meeting in September 2021 and has met at least monthly thereafter, with the exception of August 2022.  Decisions on 11 parole applications have been made this year to date, and the board expects to review at least ten cases per month in 2023.

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