14th October 2024
The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) welcomes the publication of the Parole Board's Annual Report 2023 which was published on the afternoon of Friday 11 October 2024. This is the second Annual Report the Board has published since becoming a statutory body and the first that includes a full year of decision making on applications.
The Parole Board is an independent statutory body that considers applications for parole from prisoners serving life sentences once the prisoners concerned have served at least 12 years of their sentence. The Board invites applications for parole from people who have served at least 10 and a half years of their life sentence.
During the period of the Annual Report 2023:
Sentence length
The Parole Act 2019 changed the eligibility for applications for parole from eight years to 12 years with the reason indicated that most are not considered until then and to manage for expectations of people applying for parole. In 2023, the average length of sentence served for people granted parole was 21 years 10 months. The shortest sentence served of the eight people released on licence was 18 years 10 months, with the longest sentence 41 years 8 months.
At the time of the debate on the Parole Bill 2019, IPRT was concerned that increasing the timeframe for eligibility for parole may disincentivise people to engage with rehabilitative programmes at the earliest possible opportunity as they will not become eligible to apply until 10.5 years into their sentence. IPRT questions whether the current levels of overcrowding are impeding people’s access to rehabilitative services and supports that are necessary for someone’s progression and reform journey and is thereby impacting their opportunity access parole. While the purpose of imprisonment is partially punitive and some argue it acts as deterrent (though evidence is limited), it is also about rehabilitation and reform.
The Board highlighted that in its opinion a number of applicants serving over 20 years had "served enough time, but still pose a potential risk" perhaps due to institutionalisation or require further work with relevant services. IPRT raised similar concerns about the impact that serving longer sentences might pose on rehabilitation for people serving life sentences in our recent submission to the Joint Committee on Justice on the General Scheme of the Life Sentences Bill 2024 (‘the Bill’) to inform its pre-legislative scrutiny process.
It was indicated that the Minister will consider the policy basis for the introduction of regulations to determine eligibility for parole - including those serving long term fixed sentences - by Q4 of 2023 as outlined in the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024. These regulations have not yet been published so currently only people sentenced to life imprisonment can apply for parole.
Parole decisions
In almost half of the 75 decisions finalised in 2023, the Board recommended Temporary Release or transfer to an open prison (36 cases). This is important for people wanting to progress in their rehabilitation journey in preparation for release.
However, there are only two open prisons for men in the State - Shelton Abbey and Loughan House - both almost at capacity. There are none for women. Also, these recommendations are not binding on the Irish Prison Service.
Rehabilitation must start on the first day of a sentence. We are concerned that people may not be able to access all of the required services/interventions to help them on their progression journey with current levels of prison overcrowding. For those recommended for transfer to open prison, there may not be any space available.
Staffing and resources
Despite a call from IPRT last year for a new case management system to be put in place to provide more in-depth statistics and analysis, the Parole Board continues to highlight lack of a case management system as a high-level risk. This system is essential in terms of efficiency and monitoring.
Staffing and resources continue to be a key risk with an external independent review, commissioned by the Parole Board, finding it "requires a team of approximately double [the] current allocation" and that is before new regulations are introduced for people on long-term fixed sentences to become eligible. It is indicated in the Annual Report that the finalisation of 85 to 90 cases a year is a realistic work programme with current resourcing and staffing levels.
From IPRT’s perspective, it is clear that the Parole Board requires much more investment if it is to deliver on its current mandate in terms of life sentenced prisoners as well as expanding to consider parole for people on long-term determinate sentences.
Given the current slow pace of decisions (of up to 18 months), IPRT calls for further resources for the Parole Board to be able to process and consider more applications in an efficient and timely manner. This will be even more important in the context of the proposed introduction of regulations to allow the Board to consider people on determinate sentences of eight years or more.
Housing
There were significant problems in housing applicants who were eligible for parole. Those who were granted parole, sometimes found it extremely difficult to access housing prior to their release. While we know this is an issue for many people currently leaving prison, parole conditions about where a person may or may not reside, may make this even more difficult for people released on parole to find accommodation in a particular area.
Information for people in prison
The Parole Board held 12 information sessions in prisons across the country in 2023. During those meetings, they met with parole applicants, eligible prisoners, as well as those earlier in their life sentence, to discuss the parole process and what they can expect when they make a parole application. This is welcomed by IPRT, as we receive a number of queries around parole.
It is welcome to see the engagement with prospective applicants as well as the family of victims to ensure access to justice for all.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.