The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, is to set up a parole board next year to review prison sentences.
Mr O'Donoghue said a recent Supreme Court decision had clarified the roles of the judiciary and the Executive regarding the review of prison sentences.
The Minister said while legislation was being drafted to set up a parole board, an interim board would be established on an administrative basis. In the coming week Mr O'Donoghue will announce the membership of the interim parole board and its terms of reference.
Last month the Supreme Court ruled that existing practice, whereby courts sometimes set dates when sentences are later reviewed, has no basis in law and is contrary to the Constitution.
The Chief Justice, Mr Justice Keane, said in the judgment that the remission or review of sentences was a matter for the Oireachtas.
It was extremely desirable that any remission of sentence, and any review that might precede it, be placed on a "clear and transparent" basis by the Executive, he said. He noted that the Law Reform Commission, in its report on sentencing, had outlined a number of options for this.
One of these was the setting up of a parole board, which would review sentences.