Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 4 proposes to delete the provision in section 26 of the Bill that says the parole board can only consider an application for parole once the applicant officially becomes eligible. This process can be long and arduous and there may be resource implications as it gets up and running. We can speed up this process for it to run as quickly and efficiently as possible for the benefit of applicants and for the board. I do not see why a board could not adjudicate on application before the applicant becomes officially eligible, and then allow the decision to become formal once eligibility was reached. The amendment would remove an unnecessary administrative barrier to the board deciding on applications that were already right in front of it since the Bill already allows an applicant to apply before his or her parole is up. This would simply allow the process to move quicker and if an application is successful, the applicant would avail of parole sooner and for an unsuccessful application the person could go back to working on the reapplication sooner. I urge the Minister of State to accept this amendment.