Micheál Martin
Question:32 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Justice the average length of time served in prison on foot of sentences of imprisonment of three months or more; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21809/96]
Written Answers. - Prison Sentences.
Statistics are not maintained in such a way to facilitate calculation of the figure sought by the Deputy. However, using a method employed in the Penological Information Bulletin produced by the Council of Europe, to provide an indicator of the average length of imprisonment, gives a figure of about 3.7 months for all committals under sentence in 1995. This figure gives a somewhat distorted view because it includes all committals, including those sentenced to under three months i.e. almost 40 per cent of committals on conviction each year.