Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 13 Dec 2000

Vol. 528 No. 2

Written Answers. - Temporary Release of Prisoners.

Jack Wall

Question:

211 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason the prisoner convicted of the murder of a person (details supplied) was unsupervised on the day of the murder; the number of previous occasions he was released; if there was supervision on each other occasion; if there are reports on such releases from any of the sections of the Department; if there are reports from the Garda in relation to such releases of this person; if the Garda were notified prior to his release on the day of the murder; the re-assessment that has been made as a result of this case in relation to such releases; if there will be a public inquiry into the case; if his Department or the prison service is conducting an internal inquiry; if so, if he will make these reports or report available to the family of the deceased; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30022/00]

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

I refer the Deputy to my detailed reply to Question No. 370 from Deputy Paul Connaughton, which I answered yesterday, Tuesday, 12 December, 2000.

I would in particular direct the Deputy's attention to the extensive parts of my reply which describe the exhaustive procedures applied in reviewing the cases of life sentence prisoners which include consultation with a range of services. As I stated yesterday, the handling of this particular case will be reviewed as a matter of urgency and I intend to make the results of this review available both to the House and to the family of the late Mrs. Nolan. Pending the completion of the review it would not be appropriate for me to make any further comment on this case at this time.