Vol. 481 No. 2
136 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will allay the concerns of members of an Garda Síochána resulting from reports of the temporary release of a prisoner (details supplied) who was convicted of the capital murder of a member of the Garda. [15839/97]
I fully understand the anxiety of members of an Garda Síochána regarding the temporary release of the prisoner concerned. However, as in the case of any offender, I cannot say that there would never be circumstances in which a short period of release might be warranted. The reason is that the law provides, even in the case of capital murderers, that temporary release may be granted provided that there are, what the Statute terms, "grave reasons of a humanitarian nature" to justify it. I could not, therefore, absolutely exclude short-term release for any prisoner or class of prisoners as that would involve the total denial of a concession built into the law, which would, very likely, be challenged. However, the concession has been and will continue to be extended sparingly and the legal condition applying to capital murderers, i.e. that there must be "grave reasons of a humanitarian nature" will be strictly applied.
I also wish to assure the Deputy that the Garda concerns will be among the matters specifically examined whenever applications for temporary release are made by or on behalf of this prisoner.
