Vol. 486 No. 4
65 Mr. Creed asked the Taoiseach if his attention has been drawn to the inordinate delay by the British Home Secretary in deciding the minimum term or tariff which a group of prisoners (details supplied) must serve before their request for repatriation to Irish prisons can be processed; if he has raised this matter with the British Prime Minister; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2756/98]
I understand that the prisoners concerned, who were sentenced in 1977, have declared their interest in a transfer to Ireland. However, a formal application from the United Kingdom authorities has yet to be received. As the Deputy may be aware from recent media reports, the Home Secretary announced on 30 January last that he had decided to set whole life tariffs in the cases of the prisoners concerned. The tariff is the period to be served by the prisoner in order to satisfy the requirements of retribution and deterrence. The position as regards their transfer applications has been that it is the policy of the United Kingdom authorities not to transmit applications in respect of prisoners whose tariffs have not been set. Now that their tariffs have been determined, I understand that the applications are being forwarded immediately by the UK authorities to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. It is this Government's policy that, whenever possible, prisoners should be permitted to serve their sentences close to their families, and I can assure the Deputy that every effort will be made to process these applications as expeditiously as possible.
