asked the Minister for Justice the average remission of sentence given to prisoners for whatever reason; whether this average has been exceeded over the past six months, due to overcrowding in our prisons; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Remission of Prison Sentences.
57.
With the exception of those serving commuted death sentences in practice all offenders serving fixed 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 this remission is forfeited as a consequence of breaches of prison discipline.
In addition, the Criminal Justice Act, 1960, provides for various forms of temporary release. For example, temporary release under the supervision of the Probation and Welfare Service can be allowed to help an offender to reintegrate into society. Daily temporary release is on occasions granted to allow an offender to leave prison each morning for work or training and to return to prison at night. In certain circumstances other occasional periods of temporary release can be granted.
In circumstances where pressure on custodial accommodation may be a factor, early releases which are authorised generally apply to offenders who are serving relatively short sentences or who are very near the end of longer sentences. Other factors taken into account when early release is being considered are the nature of the offence, the length of sentence served, behaviour while in custody, previous criminal history and the Garda view of the likely threat to the community which a particular release might involve. Releases of this type can be made subject to conditions — for example, that the person released should report at certain times to the Garda Síochána.
The Annual Report on Prisons and Places of Detention gives details of the number of occasions on which temporary release is granted and similar statistics in relation to temporary releases this year will be compiled in preparing the 1988 report. Statistics, however, are not available which would show the relationship between temporary releases and sentences and these could be compiled only by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time.
Also, as pressure on accommodation is only one of a number of factors that have to be considered in deciding whether to grant an early release, there would be difficulty in attributing any particular early release exclusively to this factor.
I can inform the Deputy, however, that statistics which are maintained on a daily basis, showing the number of offenders on various forms of temporary release each day, show that the number of offenders on temporary release at present is broadly in line with the same time last year and lower than the number on temporary release six months ago.
I thank the Minister for his reply but he did not really answer my question. I was not talking about people on temporary release as part of a training programme. I was talking about the people who are being permanently released because of overcrowding in our prisons. Would the Minister not agree that the Government's policy in this area is failing? Is he aware that over the last couple of weeks the population in Mountjoy Prison rose to over 600 when the accommodation is, at best, for somewhere in the region of 488? Is the Minister not aware that the Government's lack of policy in relation to alternatives to custody is being seriously interfered with as a result of the reduction in the level of funding for the Probation and Welfare Service and the community services orders in the Estimates for 1989?
The Deputy is talking about full temporary release. Full temporary release is granted only for a very small part of a sentence. The precise figure in the 1987 report for full temporary release was 1,327, the corresponding figure in the 1986 report was 1,491——
I am talking about 1988.
I can only repeat what I said in my reply: the position is getting better. The figures are broadly in line with those for the previous years, and the number has fallen over the last six months. The number of offenders in custody in 1987 was 1,943 compared with 1,869 in 1986.
Is the Minister aware that more than 20 per cent of the prison population at present are in prison as a result of non-payment of fines? Does he not agree it is extraordinary that these people are in prison while criminals who were in prison for serious offences are being released early? Surely there must be an alternative for non-payment of fines——
This is a matter which could be considered.