Concerns over parole legislation plans

JUSTICE SUB COMMITTEE:THE CHAIRMAN of the Parole Board, John Costello, has said if Minister for Justice Alan Shatter presses ahead with plans to put the board on a statutory footing, it could lead to legal delays because of a range of new rights it would give prisoners.

Mr Costello told the Oireachtas subcommittee on justice that Mr Shatter had promised legislation in 2014 that would bring about the change but said a number of issues needed to be considered first. He believed an appeals mechanism needed to be put in place.

“I also have a concern that when the Parole Board is placed on a statutory footing there could be increased demand for legal representation by prisoners,” said Mr Costello.

He was not in favour of legal representation in all cases. “There could also be a greater number of judicial reviews of Parole Board decisions. These matters would need to be examined.”

Mr Costello also told the subcommittee, chaired by David Stanton TD (FG), that a number of incentives needed to be introduced to encourage more prisoners to engage with the parole process. Most of the prisoners now dealing with the board were serving life, with very few fixed-term inmates showing an interest in engaging with the process.

He noted that the possibility of remission of 33 per cent had been introduced as part of the Prisons Act 2007. This was higher than the 25 per cent all prisoners are entitled to and could be used to incentivise prisoners to engage more with his agency.

The Parole Board reviews cases of prisoners with a view to assessing how well they have progressed with their rehabilitation. The board can recommend release dates for life prisoners and early release for fixed-sentence prisoners who have reformed.

Social campaigner Fr Peter McVerry told the subcommittee that the Irish prison system was a disaster. He knew of more than 40 people who had used drugs for the first time in Mountjoy and had emerged heroin addicts. He also said people being granted early release often got no notice and with no time to make arrangements went straight to living on the streets.