Vol. 437 No. 2
60 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Justice if, in view of the hardship caused to certain Irish persons in prison abroad, she will bring forward plans to ratify the European Convention on the Transfer of Prisoners since Ireland is the only European Council member state not to have ratified the convention; and if she will make a statement on the matter in view of the effect it has on people such as a person (details supplied).
Ireland is a party to the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons but has not, so far, ratified it. It will not be possible to arrange for the transfer of a prisoner from another jurisdiction to serve his or her sentence in this country until we ratify the Convention.
Ratification will require legislation. Unless certain reservations are entered, however, at the time of ratification, serious difficulties for our prisons could be created given that the number of Irish nationals serving sentences abroad far exceeds the number of foreign nationals serving their sentences in this country. While it is impossible to predict accurately the number of Irish nationals in prison abroad who would wish to return, or would qualify for it, even low levels of transfer would pose a substantial problem for us because of existing pressures on prison accommodation.
However, I intend to proceed with this matter and to give the preparation of draft legislation to facilitate ratifications as much priority as I possibly can. The Deputy will be aware of the extensive and urgent legislative programme set out in the Programme for Government, of the progress I've made to date and of legislative commitments for the immediate future. Beyond saying that I will proceed with the particular legislation, as quickly as I can, I am not in a position at this stage to set a precise date limit for its introduction.
