Vol. 401 No. 2
14 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Justice if any assessment has been carried out of the number of persons who might qualify to apply for transfer to Irish prisons; the implications for the Irish prison system; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
It is estimated that there are approximately 1,000 Irish citizens in foreign jails. Although it is unlikely that anything like this number would actually apply for transfers to Irish prisons, were the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons to be ratified by this country, the consequences of even a relatively small increase in the level of the prison population here could be serious, given that there is already pressure on our existing prison accommodation. This is among the issues which must be addressed in considering the practical and legislative measures which may be necessary to enable ratification of the convention to take place. As I stated in reply to a question on 27 June 1990, the matter is under consideration in my Department.
The question is designed to establish the extent to which this matter is under consideration. To what extent has the Minister researched the background and implications of the convention which Ireland signed in 1986 but has been reluctant to ratify? Does the Minister agree with the views of a group working in this area that, in the first instance, it might involve something in the order of "20 prisoners in the first year" and "no more than a handful"— to quote the organisation — in any year thereafter? Will he comment in that regard?
I am aware of the group's report to which the Deputy refers but they do not give any background to the assessment of the 20 prisoners or the handful in other years to whom they referred. The Department are considering ratification of the convention and are trying to come to grips with the suggestion the Deputy made in relation to doing a survey of the prisoners who are anxious to come here to serve the remainder of their sentence.
May I take it from the Minister's reply that he is actively surveying the numbers involved? Perhaps they might be disposed to playing football for us but I doubt if they want to spend time in our prisons. Is a survey being undertaken and how long will it be before the Minister can make a decision on this convention?
The matter is under consideration in my Department at the moment and I should not like to put a time limit on it, in case I could not stand over it. I would prefer to leave it the way it is at present. Perhaps if a prisoner, the prison authorities and ourselves were in agreement some prisoners could come home but such a course would be misleading. It would probably give credence to the group's suggestion of 20 prisoners or a handful but I would prefer not to do it that way.
Will the survey involve an examination of the Irish prison population? I know there are a number of prisoners here from other jurisdictions and that there is a potential for a trade-off, to use a crude expression.
Non-nationals comprise about 2 per cent of our entire prison population.
It is a significant number nevertheless.
Are Bord Fáilte doing the survey?
