Jim O'Callaghan

The Parole Bill 2016, introduced as a private member’s bill by Fianna Fáil finance spokesperson Jim O’Callaghan, was supported by the Government after significant amendments.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said: “I am very pleased that this ground-breaking piece of legislation has been passed by the Oireachtas today.

“The reforms in the Parole Bill are designed to put the operation of the Parole Board on an independent, statutory footing and to ensure that the way in which it makes decisions is open, transparent, fair and fully informed.”

The current Parole Board is established on an administrative basis and its role is to review the cases of prisoners sentenced to determinate sentences of eight years or more.

The Board makes recommendations to the Minister for Justice and Equality and advises of the prisoner’s progress to date, the degree to which the prisoner has engaged with various therapeutic services and how best to proceed with the future administration of the sentence. Under current arrangements, the minister can accept the recommendations in their entirety, in part or reject them.

Under the new bill, the Parole Board will be established on a statutory basis and it will have final decision-making power.

The bil also increases the minimum period in prison before life-sentence prisoners are considered from parole from seven years to 12 years, which Mr Flanagan said would be a “positive change”.

The minister added: “I want to commend Deputy O’Callaghan for introducing this Bill and for working with me to bring this legislation to fruition.

“I also want to thank my officials for the huge programme of work that was undertaken to ensure the legislation is robust.

“This significant legal reform shows what can be achieved through constructive engagement.”