Vol. 460 No. 4
78 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Justice if her attention has been drawn to the deep public concern and frustration regarding the criminal justice system, particularly where hardened criminals are convicted by the courts to prison, but due to system failure, the criminal is released back onto the streets; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1533/96]
The temporary release system has been operated under statute since 1960 by successive Ministers for Justice. I am aware that, due to a shortage of prison accommodation, some offenders do serve a smaller proportion of their sentence than would otherwise be the case. This has been the case for several years. While great care is taken in selecting individuals for release, I am not aware of any system which can guarantee, with absolute certainty, that no individual released will commit offences during the period of release. A small minority of offenders — and that is what it is — will reoffend irrespective of whether they are released early or serve every day of their sentence.
We need to increase our prisons' capacity. There is no dispute about this and I will be bringing proposals to the Government in this regard in the very near future.
