Vol. 459 No. 5
27 Mr. Deasy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will ensure that Irish Embassy staff in London visit republican prisoners in British jails on a regular basis in order to ensure that they are not being ill-treated; and, if there is evidence of ill-treatment, if the matter will be brought to the immediate attention of the Human Rights Committee of the Council of Europe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18374/95]
I can assure the Deputy that I have been monitoring the situation of republican prisoners in Britain very closely in the past few months. Officials of the Irish Embassy in London have, on my instructions, made regular consular visits to the relevant prisons where they met with the prisoners concerned in each case and discussed their complaints with prison authorities.
There have been eight such visits to various prisons in the past 12 months, the latest this week to Belmarsh Prison in London where an Embassy official met with four republican prisoners who have been subjected to a closed visits regime since this was introduced by the British authorities last June.
The health of the prisoners in Britain has always been a key concern and this, together with their complaints about conditions in the prisons, problems with visiting arrangements and other matters, have been raised repeatedly with the British authorities. We have also made clear in recent weeks, following entry into force of the new legislation under the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, that we stand ready to receive at any time those prisoners who wish to be transferred to prison in this jurisdiction.
