(Limerick East): I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 to 15, inclusive, together.
These three questions relate to the same prisoner and were originally put down for answer on 4 December 1984.
I must assume that the Deputy did not receive my letter dated 16 November 1984 in which I explained that a postal order for £5 was sent by the governor of the prison to a solicitor acting on behalf of the prisoner's mother, receipt of which was acknowledged. In my letter I also outlined the results of the governor's investigation into the loss of a registered letter in which £5 was said to have been sent to the prisoner by his mother. I have arranged for a copy of my letter to be sent to the Deputy.
The prisoner was transferred from Mountjoy prison to Cork prison on 15 August 1984, about a month before the visit from the select committee to Mountjoy, and he was transferred back to Mountjoy on 9 October 1984, almost a month after the visit. The transfer had nothing whatever to do with that visit. The original transfer to Cork was for security reasons.
There is no record in either Mountjoy or Cork prisons that any letter written by the prisoner to the Deputy was not allowed to issue. The normal practice is that letters written by prisoners to Deputies are issued automatically. There is no record in the Department that the Deputy raised the issue. The records do show that a request was made by the Deputy in April 1984 for early release for the prisoner. The request was refused and the Deputy was so informed by letter dated 21 May 1984.