Written Answers - Temporary Release of Prisoners.
John V. Farrelly
Question:
18
Mr. Farrelly
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the number of offenders on temporary early release under supervision; the number unsupervised; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[25008/98]
There were a total of 426 prisoners on temporary release at unlock on Friday 20 November 1998. The number of prisoners under supervision by the probation and welfare service while on temporary release can vary from day to day. I am not, therefore, in a position to give a current figure. For October, the latest month for which figures are available, there were a total of 69 prisoners on temporary release under supervision by the probation and welfare service.
The granting of early temporary release is always subject to conditions. The vast majority of these prisoners were granted renewable temporary release and, therefore, required to report back to the prison from which they were released weekly. It is also a condition of renewable temporary release that offenders report to their local Garda station daily.
The granting of temporary or early release — called parole in other jurisdictions — is a feature of prisons systems internationally and has been operated under statute in this country since 1960 by successive Ministers for Justice. Temporary release is an important vehicle for reintegrating an offender into the community in a planned way.
Prisoners are granted temporary release for a variety of reasons ranging from a few hours, for example to attend a funeral; early temporary release which must be renewed weekly or on full temporary release in the last weeks of their sentences.
In addition, in a substantial number of cases the granting of temporary release may be affected by pressure on prison accommodation, in other words, prisoners may be released earlier than planned due to overcrowding. This has been the case for several years. It would be wrong to suggest, however, that serious offenders are being released because of accommodation problems and without reference to other criteria.
Before granting temporary release careful consideration is given to a number of factors, including the nature and seriousness of the offence, previous record, behaviour in custody, length of sentence served, and any compassionate grounds which merit special consideration. The overriding concern when decisions are being made in individual cases is the safety of the public. Persons serving sentences for serious crimes such as sex offences, importation or supply of drugs, armed robbery and other cases involving serious violence are not granted periods of temporary release except in very exceptional circumstances.
Since taking office, 70 spaces have been provided in Limerick Prison with 152 at the new prison in Castlerea. My Department's prison building programme is on target to make available 995 additional prison places by end 1999. These additional spaces will help eliminate the problem of overcrowding and thereby tackle the need to grant related temporary release. The number of offenders on temporary release, taken as a proportion of the total number serving sentences, has already dropped significantly from 19 per cent in November 1997 to 13 per cent in November 1998.
