Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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351. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she is aware that a judge (details supplied) in the High Court in August 2020 criticised her Department for not implementing an aspect of the State's refugee regime when an Act stated the Minister ''shall'' establish a board, but did not, saying it was a way of undermining the rule of law ''to commence the legislation, but simply do nothing to implement it''; and if successive Ministers have failed to fully implement the Parole Act 2019, even though a commitment is included in the Programme for Government, to ‘fully enact the Act’. [24081/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Parole Act 2019 commenced in full on 30 July 2021 and the Parole Board was established and became operational as a statutory body under the Act on 31 July 2021, replacing the non-statutory Interim Parole Board which had been in place since 2001.

The provisions of the Parole Act 2019 currently apply to those serving a sentence of life imprisonment. Section 24(3) provides that the Minister may extend the possibility of parole to those serving long fixed-term sentences. The Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024 commits to an examination of the introduction of the necessary regulations and that work is ongoing.