The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, is to introduce a prisons parole board, to end the practice of judges introducing "reviews" of sentences, as in the Sheedy case.
There was also a call yesterday that when prisoners are given early parole, the impact on their victims should be a consideration in the parole board's decision. Speaking at a prison officers' conference yesterday, Mr O'Donoghue said the introduction of a parole board "would obviate the need for judges to put review dates on sentences and so eliminate the possibility of another Sheedy case". Mr O'Donoghue was responding to a call from the Prison Officers' Association (POA) to put a parole board on a statutory footing.
Speaking at the POA's annual conference in Ennis, Co Clare, the Minister said he favoured a statutorily established parole board. It would be to the benefit of society.
He also intended to set up a prisons inspectorate to oversee the running of prisons with the new Prisons Authority, which is to take over the running of the system from the Department of Justice within a year. The authority will remain answerable to the Minister.
A new parole board would be responsible for the release of prisoners. Mr O'Donoghue said it should also "take over responsibility from the courts for the review of sentences".
The POA president, Mr Frank O'Donnell, said his association welcomed the Government decision to establish a parole board, "a development that has long been a matter of policy for this union".
He added: "In the interim, we strongly urge that the present sentencing review group should be put on a statutory footing.
"This would facilitate an open and transparent parole system, where the criteria for parole are defined in clear and concise terms.
"It is not clear from the Government statement whether the new parole board would have any power to actually parole an offender or simply make recommendations, but a strong case can be made that the present system, whereby the Minister makes the release decision, should not continue."
Mr O'Donnell said the POA was concerned that certain categories of prisoners "based on their offences and where they lived" should not be considered for parole.
A parole board should take into consideration, before releasing prisoners, such issues as public safety, risk of further offences being committed, the sentence imposed, previous criminal background, behaviour in custody, involvement in programmes and the availability of suitable support on release.
He added: "Each offender should be examined as an individual. It is also vital that the victims of crime should be given a voice in the parole process. The courts use victim impact reports before sentencing. We believe that these reports should also be an integral part of the parole decisions arrived at by an independent, accountable parole board."