Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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379. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to implement the recommendations contained within the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality's report on penal reform. [48236/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality published in March, 2013 is a very valuable contribution to the debate on penal reform and contains analysis and recommendations which considerably advance the debate on how best to protect society through effective offender management.

I published the Report of the Penal Policy Review Group, which took the Joint Committee's report into account, on 17 September, 2014. There is, I believe, much in common between both reports and indeed the Joint Committee's report complements the more recent strategic review of penal policy. There has been considerable progress in recent years but there remains much to be done, and both reports recognise that. There are naturally some variations in approach between the two reports but these can be examined as part of the ongoing process of implementation.

The Report of the Review Group contains 43 recommendations, some of which can be implemented in the short to medium term, while others will require a more long term approach. As an initial step, I recently obtained the agreement, in principle, of Government to proceed immediately with the implementation of the following key recommendations:

- bringing forward legislative proposals to establish the Parole Board on an independent statutory basis;

- preparing proposals and options for Government on reform of sentencing policy including a review of the threshold at which presumptive minimum sentences in drugs and other offences apply;

- preparing proposals for Government on legislating for the review's recommendation that Courts set out in writing their reasons for imposing a custodial sentence;

- preparing proposals on the potential for increased use of earned remission; and

- pursuing options for an open prison for female offenders.

I have also referred the Review Group's report to the Joint Committee.