asked the Minister for Justice the average remission of sentence given to prisoners for good behaviour; whether this average was exceeded during the past four weeks; and the number of prisoners given early release for each of the last twelve months.
Written Answers. - Prison Sentences Remissions
23.
As I indicated in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 68 of 28 April 1988, in practice all offenders serving sentences of longer than one month are regarded as entitled to full remission of one quarter of the total sentence unless all or part of it is forfeited as a consequence of breaches of prison discipline. There has been no deviation from this practice during the past four weeks.
While the statistical information sought by the Deputy in relation to the number of prisoners given early release for each of the last 12 months is not readily available at present, my Department have made it clear that there has been no change in policy in relation to early releases in the past four weeks and that the normal criteria — only one of which would be good behaviour while in custody — were used in assessing candidates for release. Statistics in relation to temporary release granted this year will, when available, be published in the normal way in the annual report on prisons and places of detention.