Vol. 498 No. 5
195 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if it was a condition of a transfer of a prisoner to Northern Ireland (details supplied) that he would serve his sentence in full and not be granted temporary release; if this person is being granted weekend release; and if he has visited this jurisdiction while on release. [28091/98]
The position as regards administration of sentence on transfer in respect of the person referred to in the question was previously addressed in my reply to the Deputy's Parliamentary Question No. 134 on Wednesday, 1 April 1998.
The Deputy may further wish to note that Article 9 of the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons states that "the enforcement of the sentence shall be governed by the law of the administering State and that State alone shall be competent to take all appropriate decisions". This includes for instance the rules relating to eligibility for conditional release — as quoted from the explanatory report to the Convention. The sentence of the person referred to in the question is therefore being administered under the laws and regulations of the Northern Ireland jurisdiction.
The Northern Ireland authorities did however advise that occasional periods of parole could be granted as part of a pre-release programme following review by the life sentence review board. Again, the Deputy will be aware from my previous reply that the criteria used in reviewing such cases are similar to those applied in the review of cases here by the sentence review group. I am not aware if the prisoner visited this jurisdiction while on temporary release.
