Justice Minister announces new parole board for 2021

Prisoners sentenced for life to serve 12 years before parole eligibility under new legislation

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee. Picture: Julien Beha

A new parole board is to be established and fully operational by July 2021 according to plans announced by the Justice Minister, Helen McEntee. 

It is set to be completely independent of whoever is Minister at any given time, a change from the current system of forwarding recommendations to the Minister.

One of the proposals for the new board include making life sentence prisoners serve 12 years before being able to apply for parole,up from seven.  

Minister Helen McEntee said the Department of Justice is currently working on selecting members, appointing staff and choosing an appropriate office space for what she has described as strategic priority for the department. 

Speaking today about the announcement ahead of the commencement of the Parole Act next year, the Justice Minister explained why it was important to consult various stakeholders in the new project and the importance of the system for victims of serious crime. 

“I believe that it is hugely important that all stakeholders, including victims, are kept informed of the progress of the project, and that they understand how the changes will affect them following commencement of the Act.

“I am pleased to say that the project team has now completed a stakeholder mapping exercise and commenced preliminary consultations with some of the key actors.

“A formal plan to include written communications to victims and parole applicants is currently under development. 

I know many victims are waiting on the new parole board become fully operational and I am determined this will happen in 2021.

“I am fully committed to establishing the new board as soon as possible on a statutory footing and to take account of the concerns of victims and survivors. 

I would be very happy to see a victim’s representative on the board.

“The project team within my department is working actively to progress the selection of the board members, the appointment of a chief executive and of staff, the development of legal processes and a legal aid scheme, as well as securing appropriate premises for the new body and a project board has been established in my department to oversee this important work.

“The Government has supported this commitment with funding allocated for the parole board for 2021 of €1.3m, which is more than double previous allocations. This substantial increase will allow for the implementation of the model of parole as envisaged under the Parole Board Act.

“The new statutory parole board will considerably improve the system as it currently operates. As mentioned, the Parole Act 2019 puts the parole board on an independent statutory footing and it sets out clear and transparent criteria for how the board will reach its decisions, which will be independent of the Minister of the day.

“The Act also increases the length of the sentence which must be served by life sentenced prisoners before they are even eligible to be considered for parole, from 7 to 12 years.”

Sinn Féin TD and spokesperson on Justice and Equality, Martin Kenny said the announcement is a good step, but should have been introduced faster as the legislation was passed two years ago.

Mr Kenny said: "I wouldn't really have a criticism of what the minister is trying to do. I would have an observation that it could be done much faster and that it should be in place by now. 

"Hopefully this date, which is the middle of next year will not pass and you will have the parole board put in place and fully functioning,

"To ensure that it delivers for society and for the many victims of serious crime out there who are very concerned about the present regime that is in place for delivering parole to people."