Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 May 2004
168 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of prisoners who have received early release without serving their full sentence in the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12918/04]
View answerFigures for the year 2003 are being compiled by the Prison Service. While subject to final verification, these statistics indicate that just under 2,500 prisoners received early release in the calendar year. Typically, the releases in these cases would be of short duration, sometimes as little as one to two days, when the prisoner is close to completion of sentence. From time to time, consideration may be given to a somewhat longer period of release for the purposes of residential addiction counselling or for other constructive programmes, for example, work training. The aim of this latter form of temporary release is to help the prisoner with employment prospects on the outside which will have the effect of reducing the risk of reoffending. Temporary release, which is always conditional on the prisoners behaviour, is recognised as being a useful instrument in preparing a prisoner for reintegration with society.
At present, the number of persons on temporary release is in the region of 8% to 9% of the prison population. This compares with figures approaching 20% during the 1990s. This reduction is largely due to the construction of some 1,300 new prison spaces during this period.
