Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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427. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when he plans to commence all sections of the Parole Act 2019; if the terms of the legislation in relation to the 12-year waiting period before a person can apply for parole will apply to those currently serving life sentences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5472/20]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Parole Act 2019 provides for the establishment of an independent, statutory Parole Board, which will make decisions in relation to parole for all eligible prisoners.

The Deputy will be aware that under the 2019 Act, prisoners serving a life sentence will be eligible to be considered only after they have served 12 years of that sentence. As soon as the Parole Act is commenced, all parole applications will be considered by new statutory Parole Board. Prisoners who have applied under the old system but have not yet been granted parole will be eligible to be considered, once they meet the criteria set out in the Parole Act, by the new Board, in accordance with the provisions of that Act. It is, however, important to note that, in practice and over the past 10 years, the average sentence served by a life sentence prisoner before being released on parole has been approximately 19 years.

There are a number of practical steps required before it will be possible to commence the Act and establish of the Parole Board, for example selection of Board members, the appointment of a Chief Executive and staff, putting in place the funding for the new Board, and various other matters, including premises for the new enlarged organisation etc. These measures will require the provision of additional funding in Budget 2021.

My Department is committed to seeing the new Parole Board up and running and soon as is practically possible. The legislation to establish the new Board is complex and a significant amount of planning is taking place to allow for its establishment. A Project Board has been established in my Department to carry out the necessary work and ensure that all necessary arrangements are made. Pending establishment of the new Board, the existing expert Parole Board is continuing with its work.