Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 30 Mar 2000

Vol. 517 No. 2

Written Answers. - Prisoner Transfers.

Desmond J. O'Malley

Question:

128 Mr. O'Malley asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to a report in a newspaper (details supplied) on 23 March 2000 in which it stated that four people convicted of killing Detective Garda Jerry McCabe are living in a luxury bungalow within the compound of Castlerea prison, have a direct phone line and do their own cooking; if the telephone is paid for by the taxpayer or the IRA; the reason these prisoners were transferred from Portlaoise prison; the reason convicted IRA terrorists are given preferential treatment over and above other prisoners convicted of serious crimes; and if he will arrange to transfer these people back to Portlaoise Prison to serve out their full sentences. [9392/00]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I am of course aware of the tabloid newspaper article referred to by the Deputy which is misleading. I reject the suggestion contained in the article that the prisoners in question are living in what are described as "luxury bungalows".

The prisoners in question are held in a group in a compound within the walls of Castlerea Prison which has been in operation for over three years. Accommodation within the compound is actually quite basic and there are no grounds for describing it as a "luxury bungalow". Over most of this period prisoners held in the Castlerea complex have had access to kitchens in the houses where they prepared their own meals and to cardphones which they operate at their own expense. This is not at all unusual in an Irish prison context.

In fact virtually all food consumed in our prisons is prepared substantially by prisoners themselves albeit with considerable staff supervision in the larger units.

My unaltered position is that these prisoners will have to serve the full sentences imposed on them by the courts for their role in the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe. It is not, however, inconsistent with that approach that the prisoners in question should be held in less intensive settings from a security point of view than Portlaoise Prison, which is our sole maximum security prison.