Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I applaud my colleague, Deputy O'Callaghan, for bringing forward this legislation. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, has been tireless in his work to help it progress. It is one of the most important tranches of legislation to come before these Houses and I appreciate being able to speak on it. Considerable work has gone into the Bill. It is important that we acknowledge the pain and hurt that has brought so many people from all sides together to send in submissions. I have spent a good deal of time with family friends of mine for whom the Bill is in a sense the justice they deserve. I have also heard from families of the perpetrators of crimes. They too need certainty to move on with their lives in the aftermath of these cases. These are serious crimes and we need to have serious punishment for them, but we need to be clear in that regard. For far too long we have struggled under the weight of the current parole system, which is in major need of reform. The parole system in Ireland has never been fair. It has never been transparent or something that gives everyone the sense of justice.

There is a strong sense of collaboration in the Bill and that is to be welcomed because we must always seek to work together for the greater good. I want us to work hard to have this Bill enacted before the recess. It is vital, urgent and needs to be dealt with.

The Parole Board should, as set out in the Bill, be independent and established on a statutory basis in order to ensure that release decisions taken are set out in legislation and not subject to discretion. It should be made up of those who have walked the halls in the context of these kinds of crimes, those who have seen all sides and can make effective decisions. In seeking to achieve this aim, a person serving a life sentence should not be eligible to apply for the parole process until he or she has served a minimum period of 12 years. We are seeking a punishment to fit the crime. We are saying clearly that there is no easy way out. We are also balancing the prisoner's rights in the clarification and notification of the same. Once the Bill is enacted, it should apply to anyone who makes an application for parole after enactment. That should apply irrespective of when the crime was committed. This detail is important to know. We may need to look at the timescale of the review process. I welcome the inclusion of specifying periods within which anything is required to be done, including the period within which the board shall make a determination on an application for parole. I welcome that the victims can access the information regarding parole applications. They are living with the consequences and should be informed. In reality, the average time spent in prison in the most serious cases was 18 years. For a prisoner to believe that he or she might be eligible after seven years is adding to drama on all sides. It is right that over half the sentence would elapse before the process of seeking parole would begin.

The Bill also seeks to ensure that when imposing sentence upon a person a judge may impose a specified period during which the person should not be eligible for parole. These measures offer certainty where there has not been certainty before. It is important to emphasise that the Bill lays out with certainty that release on parole does not and will not conclude the sentence of the parolee. The possibility of revoking parole is welcome. For far too long we have heard of repeat offenders reappearing in court on further charges. The associated crimes and most serious offences should be handled with this in mind.

The court system has proven incredibly tough for the families of victims to navigate.I would like to see their rights strengthened. Allowing victims' families to be heard at parole hearings goes a long way to allowing them to have a voice and allowing families a choice under the nomination of family members section where a family member may have passed away but someone can still speak up for the victim. It gives strength and voice to the families and it is good to have a statutory framework for it. The definition of justice is fairness in protection of rights and punishment of wrongs.

Although there were previous permissions to have any victim put his or her submissions in writing, I believe that while they have been taken seriously, those submissions were silent. To silence the families was to deny them justice. I am heartened to see the provision of oral submissions from any victim, including in this Bill. Victims of crimes are to be involved and legal representation for families affected will be made available. This creates a balance. Murder victims' families have endured life sentences and will serve them forever. There will always be a sense that someone important is missing from their lives. We cannot change that but we can minimise the drama by strengthening what we can do for them. There is a long road to go in how we treat them in the future and they need company. This is a vital Bill which society needs and deserves. I hope we can all support it to see its swift passage into law and to listen to all these voices to allow sufficient weight to be placed where it may not have been before.