Many prisoners declined offer to take part in parole process, says report

Parole chairman says elderly prisoners lack specialist support on release

Half the number of prisoners invited to take part in parole process did not do so last year.

The annual report of the Parole Board said 73 prisoners were invited to take part in the parole process last year.

However, while 36 prisoners accepted the invitation; eight declined to do so while 29 prisoners rejected the offer.

Half of those (17) who were invited to participate in 2014 were in prison for murder, seven for sex offences and four for burglary or aggravated burglary.

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The Parole Board was established by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to review the cases of prisoners with long term sentences and to provide advice in relation to the administration of those sentences.

Life sentence prisoners generally spend an average of 17 or 18 years in prison before they receive parole.

The report said before the parole board can recommend such offenders for parole, it is essential that they have completed all the recommended therapeutic and rehabilitation programmes.

Chairman of the Parole Board, John Costello said elderly prisoners lack supports upon leaving prison.

“There is a larger group of older prisoners, some of whom have multiple physical ailments, who require specialist support in the community if granted parole, which is not there at present,”said Mr Costello.

The report said the parole board has difficulty obtaining reports required on prisoners from an independent psychiatrist.

“There is often great difficulty in obtaining all the psychiatric records of the prisoners, especially from the Central Mental Hospital. This issue has been continuing for many years and a solution to this problem is urgently required.”

The report there are about 70 former life sentence prisoners who are living full time and crime free back in the community.

“These individuals are proof that the parole system can operate very successfully,” said John Costello.

The report said the contrast between recidivism rates of prisoners serving sentences under probation (41 per cent within three years) and those who are released without such supports (62 per cent within three years), indicates that the additional supports available in the community assist an offender in addressing his or her offending behaviour.