Vol. 543 No. 2
711 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when a person (details supplied) in the United Kingdom will be transferred to an Irish prison to complete his sentence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26926/01]
The person to whom the Deputy refers has applied for a transfer to serve the balance of his sentence here under the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons. The convention and the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Acts, 1995 and 1997, require that I must be satisfied that the acts or omissions constituting the offence of the applicant would also constitute an offence under Irish law before I can consent to a transfer. The Chief State Solicitor advises me in relation to this matter and has raised some queries which have been referred to the United Kingdom authorities. On receipt of the final advice of the Chief State Solicitor I will be in a position to decide on consenting to the application. A three-way consent is required to enable any transfer to take place, meaning consent from the authorities of both jurisdictions and from the person concerned. On receipt of those consents and assuming they are forthcoming, an application will be made to the High Court for a warrant authorising the transfer of the person concerned and his continued detention here. Although it is not possible at this stage to say how long it will take for this application to be completed, I can assure the Deputy that every effort will be made to complete the process as quickly as possible.
